


Emissary

by sssssssim



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Derek living with Stiles, Emissary!Stiles, F/M, Kidnapping, M/M, Magic, Magic!Stiles, Succubi & Incubi, Witches, mention of past Danny/Stiles, scenes of a semi-sexual nature between Stiles and OFC
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-04
Updated: 2013-10-04
Packaged: 2017-12-28 10:38:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 31,145
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/991059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sssssssim/pseuds/sssssssim
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is the story about how Stiles becomes an emissary.<br/>It starts of angsty, goes on with crack, somewhere along the middle the plot attacks, and ends with fluff.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Emissary

**Author's Note:**

> As usual, no beta. Please feel free to correct any mistakes I made.  
> This was written really randomly, I just opened the document and let it float. It's a bit hectic, but it's nice.  
> Love me on [tumblr](http://sssssssim.tumblr.com)?

Three days after they died, they were all in the cafeteria when Scott told Stiles that Cora and Derek left town. Stiles didn’t say anything at first, so Scott continued.

‘I want him to come back, you know? He’s not as bad as I thought, he’s… he’s a good man. But I want him to be happy, I guess. And if that means being away with his sister, so be it.’

 Stiles didn’t say anything. For a few long minutes, he stared down at the forgotten plate of food in front of him. He thought about every interaction he ever had with Derek and he thought about every little thing he knows about the man. How he takes his coffee, his favorite pizza topping, his favorite pair of jeans, the smile he had when he talked about Laura, the way he’d be careful with any of Stiles’ books, -

‘Stiles?’, Isaac put a hand on his shoulder, bring him back to reality.

‘He’s not coming back.’, Stiles said.

‘Who?’, Scott frowned.

‘Derek. He’s not coming back. He’s broken and damaged and he can’t fix himself in Beacon Hills. He’ll never be happy here.’ The words sounded cold, but they felt true to him.

‘How do you know that?’, Lydia asked with concern in her voice.

Stiles shrugged. ‘Because somewhere along the way, I’ve gotten to know Derek. And he wants to fix himself. For his sake and for Cora’s. And he can’t do that here, he can’t be a good Alpha here.’

‘He’s not an Alpha anymore.’, Isaac says and Stiles stills.

‘What?’

‘He gave up his Alpha powers to save Cora.’, Scott explains. ‘He’s a Beta now. Again. Well, I guess he’s an Omega, they both are.’

Stiles blinks away tears in his eyes, even though he doesn’t understand why they’re there.

‘Who’s the Alpha, then?’, Stiles asks with wide eyes.

‘Besides me?’, Scott frowns.

Stiles rolls his eyes. ‘You’re not… Hale. Who’s the Alpha of the Hale pack?’

Scott and Isaac look at him like he’s gone insane, while Lydia and Allison look concerned. Out of the corner of his eyes, he sees Aidan and Ethan looking at their table, too.

‘If Derek’s a Beta, and Cora’s a Beta, who’s the Alpha? That amount of power doesn’t just vanish into thin air.’

‘Derek used it up to save Cora’, Isaac says, slowly.

Nobody says anything for a few seconds, but Stiles and Lydia reach the same conclusion at the same time, judging by the looks on their faces.

‘Shit.’, Stiles says. ‘Where’s Peter?’

Scott’s eyes widen. ‘I don’t know.’

‘Did he leave with Derek?’, Stiles pushes.

‘I don’t know.’

‘We have to keep an eye out for him.’ Stiles look over to the twins. ‘We all have to keep an eye out for Peter.’

They nod.

Δ

When Stiles gets home from school, he calls Derek. The phone number isn’t in use anymore, the generic voice says. He calls Cora next. It rings, but she doesn’t answer. So he texts her.

_Please tell your brother he’s an ass for leaving without saying goodbye. You’re an ass, too. A nice ass, but an ass nonetheless._

Two minutes later, he sends another text. _I hope you find what you’re looking for. Both of you. Be safe._

He doesn’t get an answer.

Δ

That night, the dreams start. Nightmares. Every night, Stiles has nightmares. Awful nightmares, that leave him waking up gasping for air, crying, sheets sweaty and muscles tight.

He knows that this is because of the sacrifice he made. ‘A darkness around your heart’, Deaton said. But when dreaming about killing his friends becomes too much of a burden for him to carry alone, Stiles makes a decision.

He’s in the bathroom, shirtless, hair wet after a shower. He looks at himself in the mirror, the dark bags under his eyes, the discolored lips, the emotionless look in his eyes.

‘I’m not going through this for nothing.’, Stiles says. ‘I have to do something, I have to do it for something. I need a purpose.’

Δ

That evening, he goes into the animal clinic, a few minutes after closing.

Scott and Isaac greet him, and Deaton smiles.

‘Hey, Stiles’, Scott smiles. ‘What’s up?’

‘Nothing much. I…’ He looks to Deaton. ‘I need to talk to you. Privately.’

The vet raises an eyebrow.

‘You know, without werewolf superhearing around.’

Scott frowns. ‘What’s wrong?’

‘Nothing’s wrong, buddy. I just have some boring human related questions for our local druid. Research stuff, you know. Nothing you need to be concerned about.’

‘Step into my office, Stiles. It’s soundproof.’ Deaton smiles before Scott has a chance to say anything. ‘You boys clean up here, please.’ He nods at the werewolves.

Once they’re in the office, door locked behind them, Deaton sits at his desk and Stiles collapses into the chair in front of it. He rubs a hand over his forehead, trying to remember what he wanted to say.

‘What’s the matter, Stiles?’, Deaton asks gently.

‘I need you to train me’, he blurts out.

The vet raises his eyebrows. ‘Train you?’

Stiles sighs. ‘I have nightmares. Every night. They’re horrible, and bloody, and gory, and it’s all about me killing my friends, killing Scott’s pack.’

Deaton’s expression becomes soft. ‘You have to fight it, Stiles. I told you, the sacrifice wouldn’t leave you unscarred.’

‘I know that. I understood that. Scott and Allison… Yeah, they say they feel the darkness that you talked about. But, I think… They managed to anchor themselves. I haven’t.’

‘Stiles,-‘

‘I haven’t slept in a week, Deaton. A couple of hours here and there, to keep my body functioning. Every time I close my eyes, I see the blood of the people I love on my hands. I can’t take that anymore and I know it’s not going to stop.’

‘I don’t know how to help you, Stiles. You have to be the one who finds your… anchor, as you put it.’

Stiles shakes his head. ‘Are you Scott’s emissary?’

Deaton blinks, surprised. ‘Yes.’, he says, slowly.

‘Good. Yeah, ok, that’s good. Scott needs you and I am glad he has you, we all are. However.’ He bites his lip. ‘How long were you Talia’s emissary?’

Deaton doesn’t look at Stiles when he answers. ’Fifteen years, give or take.’

‘Yeah, and after the fire, you spent the next six years ignoring your powers. And when Derek came back, you didn’t exactly help him, did you? You helped us help him.’

Deaton frowns and Stiles can see he is getting defensive.

‘And I’m grateful for that, believe me, Doc. I know for a fact that Derek is too. But… You screwed up, Deaton. You weren’t Talia’s emissary, you were an emissary for the Hale pack. When she died, when they died, a part of the pack lived. You should’ve… I know that the situation stopped you from going to Laura, I understand that. But that should’ve happened. And when Derek became the Alpha, you should’ve been there. Properly. Not just through Scott.’

Deaton looks calm, but Stiles can see the fury in his eyes. ‘I’m sorry, Stiles, but I don’t think you are in the position to judge my actions.’

‘I’m not. You’re right, it isn’t any of my business. It’s my opinion and I promise you I will not inflict in on anybody else. But I am in the position to think of the future.’

Deaton frowns.

‘Scott trusts you. Implicitly. You’ve been the closest thing to a father figure he had in his life these past years and you were his mentor in this whole werewolf business. You have never failed him. Now, you are his emissary and I am grateful for that. But I can’t trust you the way he does. Because I know things he doesn’t. ‘

‘What things?’, Deaton hisses.

Stiles shrugged. ‘Things Derek told me, things he learned from Laura and his parents. Things Peter told me. Things I’ve read in old mythology books, things I’ve read in Peter’s digital archive of the Hale library, rules for pack dynamics and emissaries.’

Deaton sighs. ‘Stiles, I don’t like the way you’re corning me right now. I did what needed to be done, when it needed to be done.’

‘Yes you have. Thank you for that. Now, _I_ need you to do what needs to be done.’

Deaton raises an eyebrow.

‘I’m not cornering you, Doc. I’m telling you that I have already started training on my own. I’m telling you I need help.’

‘For what?’, Deaton asks slowly.

Stiles sighs. ‘I don’t trust you enough to believe you’re always going to be here. I want to, I want you to always be here, for Scott’s sake. But I know that’s not going to happen. And after all the shit we’ve been through, and for all the shit I know will be coming at us in the future, I don’t have the luxury to be unprepared. Neither of us has that anymore.’

‘What are you saying, Stiles?’           

‘I need you to train me into becoming an emissary.’

Deaton blinks. ‘For Scott.’

Stiles nods. ‘If he’s going to need me, yeah.’

Deaton shakes his head. ‘You don’t just become an emissary, Stiles. You don’t just become a druid.’

‘I know that. You have to have… what did you call it? A spark?’, Stiles says with venom in his voice, at the same time he flicks his wrist and throws a paperweight from the desk to the ground.

Deaton looks unimpressed. So Stiles moves his hand a couple of times more, throwing more of the things on the desk into the walls. Deaton doesn’t blink, not even when Stiles levitates the desk itself.

In the end, it’s Stiles creating a fireball in his palm that makes Deaton flinch. Stiles puts it out and stares Deaton down.

‘Look, Doc. I’m not the enemy here, you know that. I only want what’s best for Scott. Always have, always will. You and I have that in common.’

‘Who taught you magic, Stiles?’, the vet narrows his eyes.

‘Taught myself. The Hale books helped.’

Deaton doesn’t look convinced. Stiles rolls his eyes and goes to the door, opening it and yelling for Isaac. When the werewolf comes in, confused, looking at the mess in the office, Stiles smiles and puts a hand on his shoulder.

‘Ignore the chaos. Please tell Deaton if I’m telling the truth.’

Isaac nods and looks to Stiles’ chest.

‘I taught myself, with the help of the books in the Hale library.’

Isaac blinks. ‘You didn’t lie. What’s going on?’ He looks towards Deaton.

‘Nothing, Isaac.’, the doctor smiles. ‘We’ll be out in a minute. Please close the door on your way out.’

Isaac does as he’s told and when Stiles turns towards the vet, Deaton looks thoughtful.

‘You’re powerful, Stiles.’

‘Yeah. And I shouldn’t be, because I’m fucked up, Deaton. I’m so fucked up right now, I’m one step close to… doing… something. That’s why I need you. I need you to give me something I can focus on.’

Deaton nods. ‘You’re not the enemy here?’

‘No.’

‘Am I?’

‘No, of course not. But after I spent all that time lying to my dad, I’m sick of it. I just thought we’d get everything out in the open.’

Deaton nods. ‘Do the pack know of your powers?’

‘No.’

‘Why not? You just said you don’t like lying to the people you care about.’

‘I can’t tell them, not yet. They…’ He smiles. ‘Lydia’s the only one who sees right through me. She’s the only one who knows about the nightmares and stuff, who knows how bad they really are. They don’t… They don’t see it. And they don’t need to see it. Not this, and not my powers. Not yet. Not until I learn everything I can about them.’

‘That’s not how pack works, Stiles.’, Deaton smiles.

‘I know.’, he nods. ‘Between you and me, the McCall pack sounds foreign on my tongue.’

Deaton frowns.                                  

‘And I know that’s so fucked up and weird, because Scott is my brother, and he always will be. But… He’s not exactly my Alpha, I guess. Not yet. Not how he’s Isaac’s, or Lydia’s.’

‘And why do you think that is?’

Stiles laughs, and it sounds a bit broken. ‘Because the first time I did magic, it wasn’t Scott that saw it.’

‘Then who?’

‘It doesn’t matter.’, he shrugs.

Deaton looks like he wants to say something, but he stays silent.

‘Are you going to help me, Doc?’, Stiles asks in a small voice.

‘Yes. I have to, don’t I?’

‘No, you don’t have to. I’m not forcing you to do anything.’

Deaton comes closer and puts a hand on the back of Stiles’ neck. It tickles.

‘I have to’, he smiles. ‘And it will be my pleasure.’

‘Thank you.’, Stiles nods.

‘What do we tell them?’, Deaton asks with a hand on the door knob.

‘Leave that to me’, Stiles smiles.

When they get out of the office, Scott and Isaac are sitting on the floor in front of the door.

‘Like goddamn puppies.’, Stiles laughs.

‘What’s going on? What the hell happened in there?’, Scott asks, raising to his feet and looking at the mess in the office.

‘Scotty, my boy. I have some good news and some bad news. The good news is that our dear Doc here agreed to spend some quality time with me.’

‘Why?’, Scott frowns.

‘Because I’m awesome.’, Stiles grins. ‘The bad news is that you are probably going to have to clean that up, because I have to go home and make dinner. See you!’

He gets out of the clinic before Scott gets a chance to ask him more question. He knows that will happen tomorrow, but Stiles has a night to think of how he’s going to explain everything to Scott.

In the end, Stiles tells him the truth. He doesn’t tell anyone he can do actual magic, though, and he trusts Deaton not to tell them either.

Δ

In the two months that follow, Stiles learns. A lot. Deaton is shocked at how fast Stiles manages to do magic, spells, runes, control the elements. Stiles doesn’t really think about it, he just does it. One day, Deaton gives him an external hard drive.

‘Here’s every book I have on the matter.’

‘What matter?’, Stiles asks, confused.

‘Any matter that may arise in the life on an emissary.’

‘I don’t follow.’

‘I have nothing more to teach you.’, Deaton smiles.

‘You’re kidding?’

‘No. You’re ready.’

‘Ready for what?’, Stiles frowns.

‘Anything.’

Stiles rolls his eyes and takes the hard drive. ‘Thank you, Doc. I owe you one. Or, like, a thousand.’

Deaton laughs. ‘You don’t owe me anything, Stiles. It was my pleasure working with you.’

Stiles narrows his eyes. ‘This does not give you an excuse to skip town, hear me?’

‘The thought never crossed my mind.’, Deaton smiles.

‘Good.’ Stiles turns around and leaves.

Δ

The next day at school, the pack corners him when he arrives in the parking lot. Even the twins are there.

‘Hey, guys. What’s up?’, Stiles asks, awkwardly.

‘Scott told us you finished training’, Isaac said, raising an eyebrow.

‘Yup, that I did.’

‘We still don’t know what you were training for.’, he continued.

Stiles blinked. ‘Scott didn’t tell you?’

His best friend smiled. ‘Not my secret to tell.’

Stiles smiled back. ‘Look at you, being all thoughtful and Alpha-like.’

‘What did you train for, Stiles?’, Lydia asked, annoyed.

He scoffed. ‘Like you haven’t figured that out already!’

‘Stiles!’, she yelled, slapping him in the chest.

‘Jesus, woman. Fine! Emissary!’

She blinked, surprised. ‘What?’

‘Deaton taught me how to be an emissary.’

‘Why?’, Isaac frowned.

‘Because I could do it. And because I’m a pessimistic ass that thinks Deaton might not always be here for Scott.’

Scott looked sad at that prospect, so Stiles put a hand over his shoulder and started walking towards the school.

‘But you’re not his emissary now, are you?’, Isaac asked.

‘Nope.’

‘What can you do?’, Lydia asked.

‘Huh?’

‘Besides Deaton and Morell, Jennifer’s the only other druid we know. She had powers, magic.’

‘Yes. Deaton has too. You never saw him use them, though, have you?’

‘Not exactly’, Lydia frowned.

‘And you’re not going to see me use them either, unless we’re in an extreme situation.’

Allison put a hand on his arm that made him stop walking.

‘But you have them. Powers, you have powers, magic.’, she frowned.

Stiles smiled. ‘That’s between the Alpha and me.’

‘You haven’t told me that either’, Scott growled playfully.

‘So you can assume I don’t have magic’, Stiles grinned.

‘I hate you.’, Lydia said in a monotone voice.

‘Me too.’, Scott and Isaac said at the same time.

‘I just don’t get you’, Allison pouts.

‘You have gotten more mysterious since we first met.’, Aidan added.

Stiles rolled his eyes and walked inside the school, without saying anything.

Δ

The pack never mentioned anything on the topic anymore, besides Lydia, who texted him one night.

_Did the training help with the nightmares?_

He texted her a simple _no_ , and Lydia didn’t say anything more. But that night, he did tell Scott, he told him he could do magic, but that it was difficult, so he’d rather not do it unless it was impossible to survive without it. Scott was excited at the prospect of magic, but he did understand and he agreed with him.

Stiles still had nightmares. They were the same, and they didn’t stop throughout his training. Stiles always killed the pack, his father, Deaton, Scott’s mother, Derek. More often than not, the nightmares were about Derek. Stiles missed him, even if he never said the words out loud.

In time, Stiles learned how to manage the nightmares. He got used to them. He got used to not sleeping more than two, three hours at a time, to waking up crying, to the bags under his eyes. He got used to the worried looks his father and the pack were giving him, to the long nights spent either alone in his room, or in a crowded club, dancing with strangers.

But on the bright side, Beacon Hills was safe. No supernatural problems at all.

Δ

Of course, the peace didn’t last long. Two months and two weeks after their sacrifice to the nemeton, a pack of ten werewolves came to town, with the intent of claiming the Beacon Hills territory as their own. Of course, that meant that the resident pack needed to be killed. So, of course, that meant a lot of planning and fighting and blood and scars from all the pack.

They handled it, though. Not once had Stiles needed to use magic. Except, of course, the grand finale.

They were in the woods, of course they were in the woods. Between three Alphas, one Beta, two hunters, a banshee with a knife and a human with a bat, they managed to get the other Betas running, without any more bloodshed. 

The wolves were making sure the betas left towns, Allison already left with her father, so Lydia and Stiles were walking back to the Jeep. They were both unharmed, but exhausted. So they were slowly making their way through the woods, late at night, all alone, with a bat and a knife between them, when the Alpha from the rival pack jumped 40 feet before them and growled.

Stiles jumped in front of Lydia and raised his bat.

‘The rest of your pack is on the run already. You should join them.’

The werewolf flashed his eyes and started running towards them. He was powerful, Stiles knew the bat wasn’t going to do them any good. Lydia screamed, the banshee wail that any wolf could hear from miles away, so he knew the pack was on its way.

Stiles threw the bat to the side and concentrated on forming a fire ball in his right hand. But before he got a chance to throw it, someone came from the right and ran straight into the Alpha, knocking him on the ground. Stiles only saw a blur of leather and black hair, but he didn’t need to see those bright blue eyes to know that was Derek.

Derek left Beacon Hill 2 months and 23 days ago. Stiles missed him every single minute of every single day. He dreamt about killing him 47 times. He tried calling him 134 times. He sent 5 texts to Cora, never getting an answer. But now, Derek was back, saving Stiles’ life. Again.

Stiles took a deep breath and whispered. ‘Derek, get off him. I’ll trap him until Scott and the rest get here.’

Surprisingly, Derek did as he was told. He threw a final punch in the Alpha’s face, his head connecting with a big rock, and jumped off him, 5 feet away. Stiles didn’t need more than 2 seconds and a quick movement of his wrist to have the Alpha trapped in a mountain ash circle. He was unconscious.

Stile let out a deep breath and turned around to Lydia.

‘Are you ok?’, he asked, running his hands over her shoulders and arms, taking one of her hands in his.

She nodded. ‘I’m fine, I just need a drink. My throat gets dry when I scream.’ she pouted.

Stiles kissed her forehead and laughed. ‘Banshee problems’, he snickered, turning around.

Derek was closer than before, just a few feet away from them, eyebrows frowned and looking thoughtful. His eyes skipped from Stiles to Lydia, to their hands.

‘Well. Things clearly changed since I left.’, he said looking at Lydia, smiling. That alone was enough to shock Stiles into silence, how easy it seemed to be for Derek to smile.

‘Not that much’, Lydia rolled her eyes and let go of Stiles’ hand, a clear dismissal.

Derek’s eyes then moved to Stiles, giving him a one over, from head to toe. ‘You look like shit.’, he said, but he didn’t stop smiling.

Stiles rolled his eyes. ‘Some things never change.’ He made his way towards the wolf and pulled him into a hug, ignoring how Derek’s body froze and how he stopped breathing. Stiles held on for a couple of seconds and smiled when he let go.

‘You look happy. Looks good on you.’

Derek’s eyes were wide and he was looking at Stiles like he never saw him before. He was wearing an old leather jacket that somehow came out whole out of the fight with the Alpha, and a dark blue t-shirt.  He really did look good, rested and somehow content. His hair was a bit longer, but his stubble looked tidy.

Stiles laughed at the shocked expression on Derek’s face. ‘I’m exhausted’, he whined, lowering himself on the ground, sitting cross-legged, pulling out his phone.

Scott picked up after one ring, concerned and out of breath.

‘What happened? Why did Lydia scream? Are you ok?’

‘Peachy’, Stiles laughed. ‘We’re good, so good. No thanks to us though. How long till you get here?’

’10 minutes.’                                                                                                                          

‘Okay. We got the Alpha.’

‘What?’

‘Just get here. All will be explained, Master.’

They spent the next 5 minutes in silence, Stiles and Lydia on the ground, resting, and Derek a couple of feet away, leaning on a tree. The trapped Alpha was still out cold. Stiles kept looking over to Derek, trying to not think about the feeling of content he got as he saw him there, so close. Derek kept his eyes on the Alpha, but they skipped to Stiles’ a couple of times. When their eyes met, they both smiled uncontrollably.

‘You two are incorrigible’, Lydia rolled her eyes.

Stiles and Derek both started laughing, a bit hysterically. Lydia kept staring at them like they were insane, and they probably were. But Stiles couldn’t stop smiling, because Derek looked so happy. It seemed unreal.

That thought reminded Stiles of something important. ‘Where’s Cora?’

Derek looked a bit sad for a second, but he recovered quickly. ‘Argentina.’

‘What?’

‘She’s with a pack in Argentina, the one she stayed with … uhm. The one she stayed with before coming here in the first place.’

‘Is she happy?’

Derek looked up at that and stared into Stiles’ eyes for a couple of seconds. The left corner of his mouth went up. ‘Yeah. Yeah she is.’

‘Good.’, Stiles nodded and bit his lip. ‘So how long are you staying?’

Derek raised an eyebrow.

‘Not that I want you to leave or anything, I’m glad you’re back, you know, you did save us just now. Thanks for that, by the way. I’m just curios.’

Derek rolled his eyes and stood up. ‘I don’t think I’ll be leaving anytime soon. It’s not like I have anywhere to go.’

Before Stiles got a chance to respond, the rest of the pack came running through the clearing. Scott stopped two feet in front of Derek, eyes wide and questioning. Isaac, however, didn’t stop until he was hugging Derek.

Neither of them said anything, but they were both smiling when they pulled apart.

‘What happened?’, Scott asked Derek.

‘I was on my way to the house when I heard Lydia scream. Ran here, took the Alpha down, let go of him so that Stiles could trap him. Without even getting close.’, Derek narrowed his eyes and stared Stiles down. ‘Without even having mountain ash on him in the first place. How did you do that?’

Stiles ignored him. ‘Why were you going to the house?’

Derek ignored him back, looking at Scott. ‘I was trailing this pack all the way from New York. I couldn’t … I couldn’t do anything, they were faster and stronger. But I do know that he left a blood path behind him.’, the wolf said, pointing at the Alpha.

‘What do you mean?’, Scott frowned.

‘I know about at least 12 people who were killed by this Alpha. Just him, not his Beta’s. They followed him because he made them do it, but they didn’t kill anyone, they didn’t even want to be in his pack. It was a good call, letting them go.’

Scott sighed and turned towards Stiles. ‘Do we handle him ourselves or do we call your dad?’

Stiles pulled a face. ‘Do you really think a prison can keep an Alpha werewolf with a knack for blood? You know I’m never up for killing people, but… He’s borderline feral.’

Scott nodded. ‘You should call your dad, see what he says.’

They were all silent while Stiles spoke to the Sheriff, and he was trying to focus on what his father was saying, but it was really hard, considering Derek was just a few feet away, and considering how Isaac didn’t move from his side and how Scott seemed happier than he has been in a while.

‘So Dad agrees he deserves a quick and painless death. What did Deaton say?’

‘Same.’, Scott nodded. ‘How do we do this?’

‘However you want.’, Stiles shrugged.

Lydia coughed and Scott turned to her. They didn’t say anything, they just had a conversation with their eyebrows, like they usually did nowadays. When they were done, Scott turned around a put a hand on Derek’s shoulder.

‘Do you want to kill him?’

Derek startled. Visibly. He looked down at the spot Scott’s fingers were touching his shoulders and raised an eyebrow. ‘Why would I want to do that?’

‘You lost your Alpha powers.’, Scott said, removing his hand. ‘I thought you might want to-‘

‘No.’, Derek cut him off. ‘No, thank you.’

‘You’d rather be an Omega?’, Lydia asked.

‘Yes.’

‘You don’t want to join my pack?’, Scott asked, and for some reason Stiles didn’t understand, he was smiling.

Derek nodded. ‘I’ll come when you’ll call, Scott. I’ll help when you need it. But I can’t have an Alpha that’s not family. Real family. I hope you can understand that.’

‘But you’re staying in Beacon Hills?’, Scott pushed.

‘Yeah.’

‘That’s great.’, Isaac whispered.

Derek nodded and blushed a bit. ‘What do we do with the Alpha?’

Scott turned to Stiles. ‘Any ideas?’

‘You could slash his throat, but I’m not sure what will happen to your True Alpha status, I’ll research that tomorrow. So, I’m thinking… drug him with wolfsbane, so it’ll be painless? Then burn him?’

‘Do you have any wolfsbane on you?’, Lydia asks, annoyed. ‘Or gasoline, for that matter?’

Stiles grinned. ‘I don’t really need it.’

Lydia was confused, as was everyone except for Scott.

‘Are you sure, Stiles? You don’t have to.’

‘This is… easy-peasy, Scotty. I can handle this. ‘

‘Last week you didn’t want to handle this. You didn’t even want us to _know_ you can handle this.’

Stiles smiled. ‘I changed my mind?’

Scott laughed. ‘You just wanna show off your powers. Go right ahead. Please don’t black out.’

Stiles nodded and made his way towards the mountain ash circle. ‘You should all step back a bit, just to be safe.’

After he made sure they were far enough, Stiles concentrated on his powers, on the energy the Earth around him was emanating, on the task at hand. It was simple enough, or at least, Stiles felt like it was simple enough. He kept the mountain ash circle intact as he poisoned the Alpha with wolfsbane. After he started the fire, he made sure to fuel it enough so that it ends quickly. It did, a minute later the only things left of the Alpha were his ashes. With another flick of his wrist, his ashes, along with the ring of mountain ash, were carried through the woods by a gust of wind.

When Stiles turned around, everybody was watching him with various levels of shock. Derek was the one who recovered and frowned.

‘You’re Scott’s emissary, now?’

‘No, that’s still Deaton.’

‘Than how did you know how to do that?’, Derek asked, slowly.

‘Because Deaton did train me in all things emissary-related.’

Derek blinked. ‘He… finished training you?’, he asked, incredulously.                      

‘Yup.’, Stiles grinned.

‘I’ve been gone for 2 months. How the hell did you learn magic in two months?’, and Stiles had to smile, because grumpy-Derek was back.

Stiles shrugged. ‘2 months, 23 days.’

‘What?’

‘You were gone for 2 months and 23 days.’

Derek smiled, even though he tried not to. ‘It’s creepy that you know that.’

Stiles laughed. ‘It has come to this, Derek freaking Hale, the creepiest of creeps to ever creep, telling me I’m creepy.’

‘My head hurts, can we go home now?’, Lydia interrupted.

They all made their ways to their cars, but Stiles noticed Derek was heading towards the Hale house ruin.

‘Hey, Derek!’, he yelled, running towards the wolf. ‘Where are you staying?’

‘What?’

‘Where are you sleeping?’

Derek shrugged. ‘I’ll start looking for an apartment tomorrow, it shouldn’t take long to find something. A week or two.’

Stiles blinked. ‘Where are you parked?’

‘In front of the house.’, Derek frowned.

‘Ok. Go get your car, and we’ll meet you at the entrance in the Preserve. I still have to give Lydia a ride home, but you’re gonna sleep at my house until you find an apartment.’

‘Stiles-‘

‘No. I won’t take no for an answer, and I know Scott won’t either. We have a big guestroom that has been recently refurnitured with the help of the girls.’

‘You father-‘

‘My father was upset that you left, because he didn’t get a chance to apologize and thank you for everything. So he will be thrilled that he can do at least this for you.’

Derek looked shocked and unconvinced but he eventually sighed. When he looked back at Stiles, he was smiling.

‘A lot of things have changed around here, huh?’

Stiles smiled. ‘Indeed they have. And apparently, so have you. So come on, I’ll get you up to speed?’

Derek nodded and turned around. ‘I’ll see you at the entrance in the Preserve.’

Δ

Stiles couldn’t stop looking at Derek, and laughing. The expression Derek had on was absolutely priceless. They were in the kitchen, eating sandwiches with the Sheriff, who was talking at Derek, apologizing for arresting him, for treating him bad, for everything, and then thanking him for all that he did for the pack, for Scott, Stiles, Isaac. Stiles thought his dad had this speech planned, because he talked about every single thing that happened since Derek came back to town, all those months ago.

The Sheriff told Derek that he was insane, that he was a dumbass for sacrificing himself all the times he did. He thanked the wolf for saving Stiles’ life so many times, for getting Isaac out of that hell house, for helping Jackson control his shift after he became a wolf, for dealing with Jennifer and Deucalion the way he did.

All this time, Derek was staring at the plate of untouched food in front of him, eyes wide and mouth slightly opened. Stiles could barely hold his laughter in, because he had never seen Derek this uncomfortable.

However, the dynamics changed when the Sheriff started talking about the fire. Derek’s shoulders grew tenser and he closed his eyes.

‘I’m sorry I didn’t figure it out, Derek. I am so sorry. I know that means nothing to you, believe me I know, Stiles and I both know that _sorry_ means absolutely nothing in these situations. But… Even though I was just a deputy then, I should’ve figured it out last year. I wish I would have figured out that Kate was the one who did it, because death seems too easy of a punishment for what she did.’

By this point, Derek was biting his lip. The Sheriff continued.

‘I’m sorry I wasn’t the one to give you closure. You deserved that. Hell, son, you deserved a lot more than that. Stiles keeps telling me I couldn’t have done anything, and I know that, but I still feel like crap. And I know that you blame yourself. For the fire, and for Jennifer. For the kanima, for what Peter did. And I also know you’re stubborn, but I’ll still say my mind. That’s bullshit, Derek. You weren’t to blame for any of those situations, in the eyes of the law or in the eyes of the world. I really hope you’ll believe that soon enough, because that’s too much of a burden to carry, and you don’t deserve it.’

The Sheriff stopped talking, drinking a bit of the whisky he had in front of him. Derek didn’t say anything, he didn’t even open his eyes. So Stiles stretched his legs under the table until they connected with Derek’s.

‘Hey. Big guy. You ok?’

Derek looked up, and when he opened his eyes, he looked incredibly young and vulnerable. Stiles smiled.

The wolf looked towards the Sheriff and spoke in a soft voice.

‘Thank you. I… I’m better, Sheriff. These months away, with my sister, they helped me cope with everything. She helped me a lot. But, at the end of the day, Beacon Hills still feels like home.’

The Sheriff smiled. ‘So you’re not going anywhere?’

Derek shook his head. ‘I can’t.’

‘Good. You’re welcome to stay here as long as you need, for the next 30 years. But I must warn you, I snore, Stiles has insomnia and my living room hosts more supernatural creatures than humans, most days.’

‘Thank you’, Derek rubbed a hand over his face. He looked at Stiles, eyes wide, but with a small smile playing on his lips. ‘Just how much have things changed in 3 months?’

Stiles laughed. ‘We’ve all changed. Probably as much as you did.’

‘I haven’t change that much.’, Derek scoffed.

Stiles raised an eyebrow. ‘I haven’t seen you smile as much as you did in these past hours. And I’ve known you for, what, a year and then some?’

The wolf nodded. ‘You have a point. Are you still annoying?’, he narrowed his eyes.

‘Some things never change’, the Sheriff shrugged.

Stiles rolled his eyes. With a flick of his hand, he took the glass of whisky his father was holding and levitated it above his head. ‘You should be nice to me, dad. If I was obnoxious before, well… you haven’t seen anything yet.’, he snickered.

His father laughed. ‘You break it, you buy it, kid.’

‘Jesus’, Derek whispered in awe.

‘What?’, Stiles asked while putting the glass down.

‘You’re doing magic at the dinner table’, the wolf said a little louder than usual. ‘How the hell did that happen? How is this normal?’

‘And that’s my queue to leave.’, the Sheriff laughed, getting up. ‘I’m going to bed, it’s your turn to clean up, Stiles.’

‘Yeah, dad.’

‘Good night, boys.’

After he left, Stiles was left in the kitchen with a very bewildered Derek.

‘I feel like I ended up in The Twilight Zone.’, he said.

‘Isaac’s dating Allison.’, Stiles said in a normal tone.

‘What?’

‘And Scott’s ok with it.’

‘What?’

‘Lydia’s still dating Aiden.’

‘What?’

‘And she can fight hand-to-hand better than Allison can.’

‘How?’

‘The twins are actually decent people.’

‘Why?’

‘Danny still has no idea about the existence of werewolves.’

‘Who?’

‘I got an A in art class.’

‘What?’

‘I haven’t slept more than 4 hours at a time in 3 months.’

‘What?’

‘Lydia still gets slight PTSD symptoms when we mention Peter.’

‘God.’

‘We have no idea where he is.’

‘What?’

‘This town is now a beacon for anything supernatural.’

‘What?’

‘I have a feeling things are gonna go to shit soon.’

‘Why?’

‘Allison and Chris have a new code.’

‘How?’

‘Gerard’s still oozing black goo.’

‘What?’

‘Scott made connections with a few packs in Oregon and Nevada.’

‘Why?’

‘I’m thinking about getting a job at the library.’

‘What?’

‘I hated you for not saying goodbye.’

‘What?’

‘I think I could have been good friends with Cora.’

‘What?’

‘I missed you.’

‘Me too.’

They looked at each other for a few seconds, until Derek looked down at his hands and continued. ‘I missed every one of you, for some reason. How you all got under my skin, a bunch of teenagers who, at some point, all tried to hurt me, I have no idea. Cora did really help me, I am better. I’m not… blaming myself as much as I used to. And I meant what I said to your father. Beacon Hills is home. But I can’t… even if I act like it, I can never be Scott’s Beta, not really.’

‘I know’, Stiles smiled. ‘I get that, believe me I do. He understands too.’, he shrugged. ‘We’re glad you’re back.’

‘You’ve changed.’, Derek said, slowly.

‘So have you.’

‘Are you tired?’

‘Yup.’, Stiles narrowed his eyes.

‘But are you going to sleep?’, Derek insisted.

‘No.’

‘Do you want to… I need a shower and to change my clothes, but do you want to go for a walk? Afterwards?’

Stiles laughed. ‘It’s 2 am.’

Derek shook his head. ‘You’re right.’

‘I have to be at school at 8.’, Stiles said, rising from his chair and starting to clear the table. ‘I’ll need a shower too and to pack my school bag. Meg’s diner is open 24/7 and they have great pancakes, they’re awesome before school.’

‘Won’t your father mind?’

‘Neah, he’s used to it.’

Derek nodded. ‘I’ll buy you breakfast and you’ll fill me in on everything that I’ve missed, because, Stiles, I don’t understand anything right now.’

Stiles laughed. ‘Understandable. Guest room is upstairs, second door to the left. You know where the bathroom is, I already put fresh towels on your bed.’

‘Thank you.’, Derek said with a smile on his face.

Δ

When Stiles got out of the shower, he headed towards his room, because he forgot to get a clean t-shirt. Derek was in his chair, using his laptop, like he said he would.

‘Is that Stiles?’, he heard a girl’s voice.

He turned around and Derek leaned back on the chair a bit, so that Stiles could see that he was skyping with Cora.

‘Mini-Haaale’, he cooed, walking over to the desk, putting a hand on the back of his chair. Derek giggled.

‘Don’t call me that’, Cora scoffed.

‘You look good. You’re tanned. How can wolves even get a tan? That is so confusing. God damn it, science.’, he frowned. ‘It suits you, though. Glad to see you’re alive and kicking, looking gorgeous as ever.’

Cora raised an eyebrow at his babble. ‘You’re naked.’

‘Am not. I totally have jeans on.’

Derek laughed.

‘Sorry, I’ll go grab a shirt’, Stiles blushed.

He tuned out the conversation Derek had with his sister, but he couldn’t help but notice the soft tones they were both using. It was endearing.

After he put his shoes on, Stiles made his way to his desk again, just as Cora was saying she was going to bed.

‘What are you guys gonna do?’, she asked.

‘We’re going for a walk, and Stiles will get me up to speed with things.’

‘Things?’

Derek smiled, the fakest smile he could. ‘Like how Stiles can do magic, or how Isaac is dating Allison, how Peter’s missing or how the Sheriff offered me the guest room for the next 30 years.’

‘Jesus Christ’, Cora hissed after a beat.

‘Aren’t you glad you went away from this mess?’, Stiles smiled.

Cora laughed. ‘Derek will explain some things, too, Stiles, don’t worry. Take care of my brother, will you?’

‘Sure thing’, Stiles chuckled. ‘Good night, Mini-Hale.’

‘Bye, sis’, Derek smiled.                                      

‘Take care, boys.’

Δ

They took the Jeep and went to the Preserve. Stiles followed Derek through the woods, at a leisure pace. They talked for hours, Derek only asking for clarifications every now and then, at first. But after the first hour, he told Stiles his opinions or just told him something similar from his experience. They snickered and bitched with one another, like they always did. It was fun.

Stiles explained everything that happened in the past 3 months. How Scott grew to be a good Alpha, how good he was with Isaac, how understanding of him and Allison he was. How Scott grew closer to Lydia, how they were friends and how much he trusted her opinion. Stiles told Derek about the Argent’s new code, and Derek smiled, telling Stiles that he learned to appreciate Chris and Allison now. Stiles talked about the twins, how they have proved themselves trustworthy in the past week, dealing with this other pack. How they all saw how Ethan cares about Danny and Aiden about Lydia.

They talked about how Chris and Allison trained them, the humans and Lydia. How, sometimes, the wolves would join them too, or how the Sheriff would get them into the shooting range every now and then. He talked about how well his father took everything, how after Stiles explained everything to him, they grew closer. How the Sheriff is better now, knowing that Stiles can take care of himself, with the magic he has.

It took Stiles two hours to explain the magic, but only because Derek asked a lot of questions. It made Stiles smile, because he saw that the wolf got excited at the prospect of magic, just like Scott did. He gladly answered any questions Derek had.

 ‘So you and Lydia?’, the wolf asked as soon as they sat down at a table in the almost empty diner.

‘Lydia and I’, Stiles smiled, ‘are badass. Our brains make a great team. And we’re close. She sees right through me, and it’s scary at times, you know? But…’ he shrugged. ‘Yeah, I love her. And she loves me, but that’s it and I don’t want anything more.’

Derek nodded, but before he got a chance to respond, the waitress made her way to their table. She was an older woman, the type of woman you just know looked gorgeous in her youth. She knew Stiles since he was little and came here with his parents. Her name was Betty, but Stiles always called ‘Mrs. Boop’.

‘Well I’ll be damned’, she smiled, looking at Derek. ‘I haven’t seen you around in years, boy. ‘

Derek looked up, eyes wide. He didn’t say anything, but he smiled at the woman.

‘Glad to see you’re back home, sweets. Hope you’ll be staying a while longer.’

The wolf nodded. ‘It’s home, I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.’

And Stiles was shocked, once again. Derek didn’t do small talk. Not before he left. He would have never willingly indulge an old lady in a diner like this.

‘Good, that’s good.’, Betty smiled. ‘Look at you, all grown up. In all the right places, if I do say so myself.’

Derek’s eyes widened and Stiles laughed.

‘Stop flirting with the customers, Mrs. Boop. It’s not professional.’

She laughed and petted Stiles’ hair. ‘You’re just jealous I’m not giving you all my attention.’

‘Damn right.’, he pouted.

‘You still ain’t sleeping, love?’, she asked Stiles in a concerned voice, scratching the hair on the back of his neck with her bright red nails.

‘I’m sleeping. Just not when I should be.’, he shrugged.

She sighed. ‘Poor boy. Well, at least you have someone to keep you company now.’ She winked at Derek. He blushed slightly, but didn’t say anything.

Stiles huffed. ‘You should really stop pimping me out to all my friends.’

‘How am I supposed to know they’re you’re friends? I keep hoping you’ll bring a date here, but you always say they’re friends.’

‘Mrs. Boop, who the hell goes on dates at 6 in the morning?’, he laughed. ‘Also, who the hell goes on dates at a diner? No offence to this fine establishment which you know I love, but I tend to take my dates out to fancy coffee shops, or at the cinema, in the park, something. Not for milkshakes. I’m not 13 anymore. I’m pretty sure that’s how things worked back in your days, too.’

‘Right, right, you’re right.’, she shook her head, smiling. ‘Now, what can I get you boys?’

‘The usual for this hour in the morning.’, Stiles rolled his eyes.

‘Of course. What about you, Derek?’

The wolf frowned. ‘What’s his usual?’

‘Big stack of pancakes, coffee and a chocolate milkshake.’

‘I’ll have the same, please. No milkshake.’

After Betty left, Derek shook his head at Stiles. ‘I know what they say about old towns, but does everybody here really know everybody?’

‘No, of course not. But everybody does know the Sheriff’s son.’, he shrugged. ‘And, you know, Betty’s been working here for 30 years. She was here when my folks started dating. You must have come here when you were little, everyone did.’, Stiles finished in a small voice.

Derek nodded. ‘Of course I did. I never liked milkshakes, though.’

‘How can you not like milkshakes?’, Stiles asked incredulously.

Derek shrugged.

‘But do you like icecream?’

‘Only chocolate.’

‘You’re weird.’, Stiles chuckled.

‘That’s why you like me.’, Derek raised an eyebrow.

Stiles just rolled his eyes. Betty came back with their orders and they both finished their pancakes in record time. But they took their time with the coffees, because Stiles still had time before school started, and they weren’t done talking.

‘We’ve been talking for hours’, Derek frowned, ‘but you haven’t really said anything about yourself yet, besides the whole emissary business.’

‘I’m pretty much an open book, these days. What do you want to know?’, Stiles smiled.

‘Why aren’t you sleeping?’

Stiles sighed. ‘I can’t. When we killed ourselves, Deaton told us that our sacrifice will power the nemeton, thus making this town a beacon, a true beacon for … anything and everything supernatural. He also told us that it’ll have an effect on us. He said that every day we’ll feel a darkness around our hearts.’

‘What does that mean?’, Derek frowned.

‘It means that… Every time I go to sleep, I dream about killing all my friends and loved ones.’

Derek’s eyes grew wider.

Stiles shrugged. ‘But it’s not like I could sleep more than a couple of hours at a time anyway. I… It was bad, at first. I got Deaton to train me, and that helped. I’m ok now, I’m better. Yeah, I don’t sleep but I’m… I function normally. And now that everyone knows what I can do, now that you’re back… It feels like we’ve got a chance, you know?’

‘A chance?’, Derek whispers.

‘A chance to defend ourselves. Properly. Maybe even fight back if, or when anything comes our way.’

Derek nodded. ‘How are Allison and Scott taking it? As badly as you are?’

‘No. They… I guess they managed to find themselves an anchor.’, Stiles chuckled. ‘Allison has Isaac and her father and their new code. And Scott has the pack and his mom.’

‘And you don’t?’, Derek frowned. ‘Don’t you have your father? And the pack, and Scott?’

‘I do’, Stiles smiled. ‘I really do, and I’m grateful for it, for them. But… apparently it’s not enough.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘Don’t be’, Stiles shook his head. ‘This isn’t your fault in any way, shape or form.’

‘I know that.’, Derek smiled. ‘But I am sorry it’s happening to you.’

‘Oh. Uhm. Thanks?’, Stiles shook himself. ‘Eh, what’s another monster in my closet?’, he chuckled.

Derek glared.

‘There’s the sourwolf we all know and love.’, Stiles laughed.

Derek threw a pack of sugar at him.       

Δ

They got to the school early, so Stiles stood on the hood of the Jeep, while Derek leaned on it, waiting for the rest of the pack to show up.

‘What do you do when you can’t sleep?’, Derek asked out of nowhere.

‘Huh?’

‘When I had insomnia, I’d go running. You don’t seem the type to go running in the middle of the night. Especially in this town.’, Derek shrugged.

‘No, you’re right. I usually go running first thing in the morning.’

Derek raised an eyebrow. Stiles rolled his eyes.

‘I… you know, normal stuff a teenager does in the middle of the night. Marathon tv shows, watch stupid movies, go to Jungle, fuck around on the Internet, read books. And, then, you know, not so normal teenage stuff, like reading the Hale digital library that I may or may not have stolen from Peter.’

Derek blinked. ‘Since when are you gay?’

Stiles chuckled. ‘That’s what you got from that? Wow.’ Derek was still staring. ‘Uhm, ok. I’m not exactly gay.’

‘Okay’, Derek nodded, after a beat.

After a few seconds of awkward silence, Stiles patted Derek on the shoulder, speaking in a completely normal tone. ‘Congratulations, Derek, you just gave me the most uneventful coming out story yet. And that’s including the one where Mrs. McCall just laughed at me for 10 minutes straight.’

Derek chuckled. ‘Of course she did’.

Scott and Isaac were the first ones to arrive at school. Scott grabbed Stiles into a half-hug and left his arm on his shoulder, while Isaac playfully punched Derek in the shoulder.

‘Are we still on for movie night?’, Scott asks Stiles.                  

‘Of course, dude. Dad’s working tonight, and I’ll remember to remove all the carpets this time. You guys just remember to bring snacks. Who’s turn is it to pick the movie?’

‘Mine’, Isaac grins.

‘Great’, Stiles rolls his eyes. He gets off the Jeep and throws his keys at Derek. ‘Be sure to be there at 7. Well, no, be sure to be there at 6, cause you’re helping me bake some cupcakes.’

‘Yeeeeees!’, Scott fist pumps the air. ‘Cupcakes!’

‘I can walk.’, Derek says, eyeing the keys.

‘It’s 8 miles to my house.’, Stiles narrows his eyes.

‘I can run.’

‘Just take the damn Jeep, doofus. I promised Dad I’ll get him some lunch after school, I’m sure I can find someone at the station to give me a lift.’

‘Are you sure?’, Derek asked, frowning.                                                                                                                              

‘Yes, I’m sure. Positive. Certain. Convinced. Confident. Irrefutable. Positive. Affirmative. Assenting.Yes. Yeah. Si. Qui. Of course.’

‘How long have you slept last night, Stiles?’, Scott asked, exasperated but concerned.

‘I haven’t.’, Stiles grinned.

‘Of course you haven’t.’, Scott sighed. ‘But did you take your Adderall?’

‘Damn. I knew I forgot something.’                                                                                                        

‘What would you do without me?’, Scott grinned as Stiles got out the emergency pill he had in his wallet.

‘Talk someone to death, probably.’

‘What are you going to do today, Derek?’, Isaac asked, shutting the other two boys up.

‘Sleep. I am going to sleep. I’m exhausted’, Derek whined, resting his head on Isaac’s shoulder.

Isaac was visibly shocked by this behavior, but he smiled nonetheless. ‘Are you okay to drive?’.

Derek groaned, but it sounded somewhat affirmative. He shook his head and headed to the Jeep’s driver side. ‘See you guys later. Have an easy day at school.’

All three boys snorted.

Δ

When Stiles got home that day, after school and lunch with his father, Derek was still asleep in the guest room, door wide open. He was on his stomach, arms curled under the pillow, head to the side. He was snoring lightly and the comforter was tangled around his feet. Stiles smiled and shut the door behind him, surprised that the wolf didn’t wake up from all the noise.

Stiles took a shower and did his homework, took a small nap and at 6 o’clock he started baking cupcakes and cookies. Derek came down in the kitchen half an hour later, still wearing his pajamas, hair messed up. He still looked sleepy and grumpy, and he growled slightly as he sat at the table. Stiles chuckled as he put a cup of hot coffee in front of him.

Derek smiled as he took it, and drank it all in one go.

‘Why are you baking? What are you baking?’, he asked around a yawn.

‘Chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting and chocolate chip marshmallow cookies.’

Derek licked his lips, staring at the oven. ‘Why?’

‘Because I’m good at it?’, Stiles laughed. ‘Well, no, I’m not that good at it, I’m average. But I promised the girls, it’s become somewhat of a tradition for me to make sugary goods every time movie night is at my place.’ After a beat, he continued. ‘When I say _girls_ , I mean Allison, Lydia and Scott.’

Derek laughed. ‘It does smell good.’                              

‘Did you sleep all day?’

The wolf blushed. ‘I was exhausted.’

‘It’s fine, man, I get it.’, Stiles waved his hand. ‘You must be starving, want me to make you something to eat?’

‘I should shower before the others get here.’, Derek frowned.

Stiles nodded. ‘How about you go take a quick shower, while I fry you some bacon and eggs?’

Derek didn’t look convinced. ‘Breakfast for dinner?’

‘And I’ll make a fresh pot of coffee and some toast.’

‘Okay.’, the wolf got up, yawning. He was halfway up the stairs when he yelled. ‘Thank you, Stiles.’

Δ

‘So where did you go?’, Stiles asked, looking up from the cupcake he was currently frosting. Derek was on the other side of the table, freshly showered and dressed, quietly eating his food.

‘Huh?’, the wolf frowned.

‘Where did you and Cora go after you left Beacon Hills?’

‘Oh. That’. Derek quickly finished his food and washed his plate. Then, he stood back in his chair and began frosting cupcakes.

‘New York, at first. I still had an apartment rented there. It took us a week to clear it out, because … Laura’s things were still there. So were mine. It hurt, throwing out her stuff like that. But Cora was there, and she kept asking me about this and that and…’ Derek smiled. ‘We ended up spending that week talking about Laura and going to her favorite places in the city.’

‘That must have been nice.’, Stiles spoke softly. ‘I’m sure it hurt, but…’

‘Yeah, it was nice. It felt like a funeral, you know. Because I never really got to properly bury her. I got closure from it. And talking to Cora about her, it helped.’

Derek took another cupcake. He was very careful when he put frosting on them, Stiles noticed. They ended up being fairly close to how Stiles made them.

‘Did you throw away everything?’, Stiles frowned.

‘No. Most of it, but … I kept some of my things. And some of Laura’s things. So did Cora. I rented a storage unit and left the car there and most of my stuff. Then, we flew to Argentina.’

‘Why Argentina, thought? I am so confused about that.’.

‘After the fire’, Derek began, pointedly looking at the cupcake in his hand, ‘Cora made it to Portland all on her own. By pure luck, a werewolf found her, walking on the side of the road. He took care of her, and Cora trusted him. So when he asked her if she’d like to come back with him to his pack, she agreed.’

‘And his pack was in Argentina.’, Stiles guessed.

‘Yes. They’re good people. They care about her and they took care of her when she needed it. They didn’t judge and they let her go when she said she needed to find me. It’s a big pack, 15 people, not all family, but the majority of it.’ Derek smiled. ‘We grew up in a big pack, she feels good there. And they love her, they really do, and the Alpha is an amazing woman who’s as caring and strong as my mother was, and that hurts me sometimes, but it’s good for Cora.’

Stiles put a comforting hand on Derek’s shoulder, for which he got a smile in return.

‘Plus, there’s this boy.’, the wolf continued, rolling his eyes.

‘What boy?’, Stiles chuckled.

‘One of the wolves in the pack. His story is similar to Scott’s, in the sense that a rogue bit him, and he tried ignoring it at first. But when Matilda, the Alpha of this pack, took him under her wing, he became one of her best Betas.’

‘And this is relevant because….?’, Stiles narrowed his eyes.

‘Because’, Derek pouted and frowned, ‘he’s been dating Cora, and I am quoting, since they were old enough to understand what that means.’

Stiles laughed. ‘Your face, man. Big brother complex at its finest.’

Derek rolled his eyes.

‘Is she happy, though? With him? With them?’, Stiles asked.

‘Yeah. He loves them and they love her. And this guy, Alex is his name, he’s good for her. And they’re in it for the long run, that much is clear. She’s lucky she found them.’, Derek smiled.

‘Why did you leave, then? Why be an Omega here, when you could have been a Beta there, at Cora’s side?’

Derek shrugged. ‘I couldn’t stay there. Just the weather, ugh, 5 showers a day and I still felt filthy.’

Stiles glared.

‘Look, I couldn’t… I didn’t fit in.’, Derek said, eventually. ‘At all. And Cora understood that. I was prepared to stay there for her, to suck it up and get used to it. But she suggested I’d come back here. She understood that I couldn’t stay there and I understood she couldn’t come back with me. This was a compromise we were both willing to make for our happiness and each other’s.’

Stiles was silent for a few minutes, trying to find the best way to respond. In the end, he decided to go with the simple path.

‘Well I’m glad you’re back. We all are. I’m gonna miss Cora, though.’

‘She’s probably gonna visit for Christmas.’

Stiles blinked.

‘Yeah’, Derek continued. ‘There will be a lot of visiting. On both our parts. I pinky promised.’, he said in a serious tone.

Stiles laughed and chuckled and giggled until they were done making the cupcakes and the pack started coming around.

Δ

Derek was tense when they sat down to watch the first movie, some bad horror flick Isaac picked. But after Stiles placed a big bowl of popcorn in his lap, and after Scott sat down on the floor, leaning on his legs, Derek loosened up.      

He laughed along side with the pack, because the movies Isaac picked were terrible, and they always have to make fun of them for entertainment. Stiles could see that everyone was shocked by how outgoing Derek was, but he knew they were enjoying themselves. Derek being there, having fun with them, laughing and bickering, it didn’t feel wrong.

After two different movies, Stiles just let the tv on a Mythbusters marathon, while they ate cupcakes.

Lydia made her way to the kitchen and came back with a bright red Tupperware container. She put two cupcakes and a few cookies in it, closing it and putting in the hallway, near the front door. Derek noticed that nobody ate until Lydia finished this ritual, so he raised a questioning eyebrow when she caught his eye.

‘For Papa Stilnski.’, she explained.

Derek blinked. ‘That’s new.’

‘He hates it.’, Lydia giggles. ‘Mama McCall loves it.’

After a beat, Derek turns his head towards Stiles. ‘Please tell me they don’t call the Sheriff that in public.’

Stiles shrugs. ‘I would like to be able to say that.’

The girls and Scott moaned when they took the first bite of a cupcake, ending that conversation. This was normal behavior, so Stiles didn’t even bat an eye. Derek , however, stilled and watched them carefully. After a few seconds, he looked at Isaac, eyes questioning.

‘Oh, they’re good.’, Isaac nodded. ‘They’re that good. I just have a small dose of constraint in me.’

Derek frowned and picked up a cupcake. He took a huge bite from it, eating half of it in one go.

‘Goodness, what a big mouth you have.’, Stiles deadpanned.                               

Derek glared for 2 seconds, but he quickly shut his eyes as he started chewing. He growled, causing everybody else in the room to freeze.                                                                                     

‘Jesus christ’, he groaned a few beats later, ‘is there a Reese’s in this?’

‘Uh-huh.’, Stiles managed to say.

‘I love Reese’s.’, Derek said, devouring the other half of the cupcake.

‘I can see that.’, Stiles patted his shoulder.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, enjoying the sweets. It was Isaac who broke the silence, with a puff of air and moving Allison around, so that he could lean forward.

‘Ok, what the hell happened to you?’

‘What?’, Derek frowned.

‘You’re all…’, he waved an arm around. ‘Not grumpy and broody and… What did Cora do to you?’

‘I’m sorry?’, Derek said, eating another cookie.

‘No, you’re not.’, Stiles chuckled.

‘No, I’m not.’, the wolf nodded.

Isaac was still waving his arms frantically.

‘Look.’, Derek leveled him with a look. ‘I know I’ve changed. Cora, yeah, she helped me a lot. I’m not as self destructive and closed out as I was. I hope you can all understand that and not push me away because I’m not… growly anymore.’

‘Oh, you’re still growly.’, Stiles butted in. ‘But the frequency of the growlyness has decreased.’

‘Right.’, Derek nodded. ‘And you’ve changed too. You all have. Don’t judge me for it.’

‘I’m not judging!’, Isaac said. ‘I’m just… making sure you weren’t cursed by a witch or something.’

‘Why would a witch curse me to be nice to people?’

‘Because that would have been torture for your former self.’, Stiles explained in a normal voice.

‘True.’, Derek shrugged, leaning back on the couch.

Scott randomly started laughing, hard, burying his face into one of Derek’s legs as he did so.

When he managed to catch his breath, he looked towards Stiles and pointed a finger at him. ‘You can’t call him _sourwolf_ anymore.’

‘You bet your ass I can.’, Stiles pouted. ‘He’ll always be a sourwolf.’

‘You know’, Derek spoke over everyone’s laughter. ‘I hate you for that. Because Cora stopped calling me anything else.’

Stiles just grinned.

‘Where is Cora, anyway?’, Lydia asked.

‘Argentina.’, Derek smiled. ‘She’s with the pack she stayed with after the fire.’

Lydia’s expression turned softer, so Derek continued. ‘She’s busy falling in love with one of the guys in the pack, but she promised she’ll visit for Christmas.’

The redhead raised an eyebrow. ‘And you’re ok with that?’

‘Oh no, I hate it.’, Derek grinned, while Stiles muttered ‘big brother complex’. ‘But’, the wolf continued, ‘she’s happy. Who am I to deprive her of that?’

‘That’s oddly mature.’, Lydia smiled.

Derek bent his head. ‘You do realize I’m a lot older than you are, right?’

‘Yes, Grandfather.’, Scott said, seriously. Derek glared.

‘You’re not that old, dude. As long as dad still calls you _kid_ , you’re not that old’, Stiles said, getting up and heading for the kitchen. ‘Who wants coffee?’

‘It’s 1 am’, Allison frowned.

‘So?’

‘Are you still not sleeping?’, Scott asked, concerned.

‘I took a nap after I came home. I’m probably gonna sleep a couple of hours before school.’

‘So that’s a no.’, Scott sighed. ‘Maybe you should talk to Deaton.’

‘I already did that, there’s nothing he can do.’

‘Maybe you should talk to someone else.’, Lydia stared him down.

‘Like who?’

‘Like a therapist.’

Even though she said it as a challenge, Stiles could see that she was scared of his reaction. She thought he might get mad, but that was not the case.

‘Been there, done that.’, he waved a hand, absently. ‘If that didn’t work when I was 8, I’m pretty sure it won’t work now, when I’ve read enough psychology books and articles to realize what they’re trying to do.’

‘You saw a therapist when you were 8?’, Isaac asked, not believing it.

‘Yup. And fat load of shit it did. Absolutely nothing changed, except my dad’s bill stack.’

‘Why, though? Do they usually make kids with ADD get therapy?’

‘No’, Stiles scoffed. ‘However, 8 year old kid with ADD and daily panic attacks, no friends, IQ above average, father with a dangerous job, present in the hospital room when mother declared dead… Do you see where this is going?’

They were all watching him with various level of shock. Stiles went back on what he said in his head, and…

‘Oh’. He swallowed. ‘I… Huh. I never really said that out loud before.’, Stiles ignored the dread in his gut and made his way towards the kitchen. ‘So that’s a no on the coffee?’

‘I’d like some coffee, please’, Derek said, shaking himself out of it.

By the time Stiles came back into the living room, the pack were already heading for the door. He got a hug from the guys and a kiss on the cheek from the girls, just like always. Isaac hugged Derek too, and Scott bumped his shoulder, to witch Derek laughed and hugged him, ruffling his hair. Stiles rolled his eyes at the sight, even though he felt butterflies in his stomach. Then, Allison and Lydia both gave Derek a kiss on a cheek, to which Derek reacted by freezing.

Stiles giggled. ‘Ewwww, girl cooties’, he mocked.        

Derek shook his head. ‘Yeah, no, sorry, that still feels weird as shit.’

Allison laughed. Lydia giggled.

And then they were gone, and Stiles was left with Derek.

‘So, Mythbusters?’, Stiles grinned, making his way towards the couch.

Δ

The Sheriff woke them both up a couple of hours later. They fell asleep on the couch, and they both groaned when their bones popped when they got up. Stiles went to school and Derek went back to bed.

Δ

Over the next week, they fell into a routine. Stiles went to school, came home, did his homework. Then, he’d go on a run with Derek, through town or through the preserve. They’d take quick showers, then cook dinner. Sometimes, the Sheriff would join them, or someone in the pack. After dinner, they’d both get comfortable either in the living room, watching a movie, either in Stiles’ room, researching or reading. They’d go to sleep late at night, Stiles catching a few hours of sleep before school, Derek usually sleeping until third or fourth period.

It felt nice, to Stiles. Oddly domestic and not at all awkward. He’d talk with Derek, banter and bicker, but he’d also find out little things about what Derek thinks or what he likes. Stiles got to know Derek a lot more and it felt good.

Stiles felt safe with Derek. It was understandable, he thought. He may not be an Alpha anymore, but he saved Stiles’ life times and times again. And he was a fun man to hang out with. He was smart and sharp, funny and a bit dark. Stiles liked it, Stiles liked him. But that wasn’t a surprise, not really. Stiles had always liked Derek a bit more than he should have.

Δ

It was Monday again. Stiles usually hated Mondays, but this was a good one. School was over quickly, and the interview he had at the library went really well. He got the job and was supposed to start the next day. Just a couple of hours a day, four days a week, but Stiles was happy. He always loved the library and the Beacon Hills one had a generous amount of supernatural inclined books. It would be nice to be able to consult them at any time and not get weird looks from a stranger behind the counter. Now, he’ll get to be that stranger behind the counter. And he’d get to be paid for it. There were only a few weeks of school left, and then he’d be able to pick up more hours in the summer.

Stiles was jumpy and excited when he got home, but the mood dissolved quickly the second he closed the door behind him, and saw Derek growling at him, a few steps away. Scott and Isaac were behind him, and their eyes were flashing.

‘Guys?’, he asked, rising his hands in front of him in a submissive manner.

‘Where were you?’, Derek growled.

‘The library. I told you yesterday, I got an interview.’

Derek kept growling.

‘I got the job?’, Stiles said slowly and it came out as a question. ‘Yeah, I got the job. What’s wrong?’

Derek didn’t stop growling, and the other two wolves joined him.

‘Stop that.’, Stiles yelled. ‘What the hell is going on?’

He must have yelled with a bit more force than he intended, because all the wolves visibly shook themselves. They stopped growling and their eyes returned to normal.

Derek stepped towards Stiles, cautious. Stiles frowned. The wolf put his hand on Stiles’ forearm, exactly where the woman who interviewed him did before he left her office. Stiles remembers this, because both of the touches sent little sparks down his spine.

‘You…’, Derek frowned. ‘You smell wrong.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘You smell like something wrong. Like someone….’

‘Wrong?’, Stiles smiled, nervously.

‘Yes.’, Scott said. ‘Like you were hanging out with someone wrong.’

Stiles rolled his eyes and took his hand out Derek’s grip. ‘That makes no sense. Whatsoever. Werewolves, man.’, he whined, making his way towards the kitchen.

He poured himself a cup of coffee and opened a box of chocolate cookies. The wolves followed him, all of them looking sheepish, but more than anything, they looked concerned.

‘Okay’, Stiles sighed, swallowing his cookie. ‘What do we do?’

Derek blinked. ‘ _We_ ’re going to do something?’

‘Obviously. It’s probably at the library. Whatever _it_ is. But judging by the place where you scented me back there, I assume it’s the chick who interviewed me.’

Derek blushed a bit and out of the corner of his eyes, Stiles saw Scott and Isaac struggling not to laugh.

‘Maaaan’, he whined. ‘I really was excited about this job.’

‘Maybe you’ll still be able to work there after we figure out what this is.’, Derek shrugged.

‘Maybe it’s not even something evil.’, Scott added, hopeful.

‘Yeah, right.’, Stiles snorted, sitting down at the table, the wolves following. ‘Her name is Annabel, she’s a woman in her late 20s, long blonde hair, beautiful, big, blue eyes. Really impressive body, like seriously. Her boobs are the stuff of legends and lingerie models. I’ve never seen a pair of boobs so beautiful and sexy, and hell, I’ve seen Erica naked once. And her legs were like, really worked out. I guess it’s because of the high heels? Which, yeah, a little odd, to be a librarian and wear 3 inch heels at work. They were Louboutin’s, though, and hey that was weird, me knowing that. Ugh, I’ve gotta stop hanging out so much with Lydia. Anyway, how well does being a library manager even pay? Cause those shoes are fucking expensive. Anyway, she’s smart. Like, really smart. She went to Berkley and studied Folklore and English literature. Her hard-on for Shakespeare is bigger than mine, and let me tell you, that’s seriously impossible. And she loves George Orwell, because well, you have to be insane not to like Orwell. And when I got there, she was reading from this old book that they have, because this is Beacon Hills, and of course our local library is well stocked on supernatural books. So she was reading this bestiary, and we talked a few minutes about vampires and I cannot believe I found someone else with the same opinion on the matter as me. None of you agree with me, you all think immortality is awesome, but it’s not, and vampires are the shittiest supernatural creature out there. She noticed me before, you know? It wasn’t that hard, considering I’m always checking out weird ass folklore books and she’s in that line of work, but it felt good hearing her say it. It felt really good. She’s so hot. And smart, and that’s definitely hot in my books. She kept leaning forward and resting her boobs on the desk and she kept biting her lower lip and getting lipstick smeared on her teeth. She always realized it, though, so she’d always lick them and I cannot express how fucking hot that was, cause her tongue is like really long. I’m surprised I even managed not to pop a boner even though I kinda wanted to fuck her senseless on that desk and on the floor and maybe get her on her knees and-aaaaaaah.’

Stiles stopped talking with a quite embarrassing yelp, his hand reaching out to cover his mouth.

‘Shit.’, he whispered, looking up at the wolves for the first time. They were staring, to say the least. Derek’s jaw was dropped, and Scott looked like he walked in on his parents having sex. Isaac was just blushing and looking concerned.

‘I’m not…’, Stiles tried. ‘No. Nope. I’m not… That is not my honest opinion on the matter.’

‘Uhm…’, Scott looked at him, pity in his eyes.

‘Oh shiiiiit’, Stiles said, getting up from the table and running up the stairs, to his room. He pulled out a book from under his bed and started flicking the pages, vaguely remembering what he was reading a few nights ago. The wolves followed him, and Derek bent down at his level. He put a hand on Stiles’ shoulder.

‘Succubus?’, Derek asked.

‘Succubus.’, Stiles nodded.

The wolf sighed. ‘So you had sex with her.’

‘What?’, Stles shrieked. ‘No I did not, I most definitely did not have sex with her, any kind of sex, no sex whatsoever, or anything of the sexual nature.’

Derek narrowed his eyes.

‘Dude! Can’t you like… smell it on me? I mean, you would have smelled something if I’d had sex with her. Something more than whatever you’ve smelled when I came home.’

‘He’s right.’, Scott said. ‘You just smell like she touched you, not …’, he pulled a face. ‘Touch you.’

Stiles chuckled. ‘You will never be able to grasp the concept of me having sex, will you?’

‘Nope.’

‘I mean, I get that the guys are a harder problem to wrap your head around, but women too?’

‘Yup’, Scott grinned, shamelessly.

‘Are you 12?’, Derek deadpanned.

Scott turned to him and raised an eyebrow. ‘Imagine Cora having sex.’ Derek closed his eyes and let out a small growl, even though his ears were turning pink. ‘That’s how I feel about Stiles’ sex life.’, Scott continued. ‘Any type of sex life.’

Derek nodded in understanding.

‘Jesus, you’re such prudes. Both of you.’, Stiles laughed. ‘And it’s ironic, Scotty boy, because I know more about your sex life than anybody else, except you of course. The amount of details you shared with me should be illegal because, honestly, it’s surprising to me how I can look Allison or Katie in the eyes.’

‘Who’s Katie?’, Derek asked.

‘Scott’s current fuck buddy.’, Stiles answered, unfazed. ‘And you, sourwolf’, he continued. ‘I may not know the details, but living with you turned out to be extremely fun, especially since you have a post jerk-off ritual.’

‘I… What?’, Derek spluttered.

‘Clean socks, half a glass of coke and a pop tart.’, Stiles wiggled his eyebrows.

‘Wow, how I hate you.’, Derek flashed his eyes.

‘At least you didn’t have to hear about Stiles’ first time in a car’, Scott groaned.

‘Hey, now!’, Stiles laughed. ‘There really weren’t as many details shared there. I was just being a good friend, and explaining to you why it is not a good idea to have sex in the passenger seat of a car. Plus, you didn’t even know the guy! It’s not like I told you about the sex Danny and I had.’

Scott’s jaw dropped.

‘You had sex with Danny.’, Isaac nodded.

Stiles shrugged. ‘He was curious. I may have rocked the world of a friend of his, and Danny may have not believed I had that… power. So, he was curious. I had fun.’, he grinned.

‘But… Ethan?’, Scott rose his eyebrows.

‘They were on a break back then. Danny told him when they got back together and Ethan just threw a book at my head and told me to forget it ever happened.’, Stiles shrugged.

‘I feel like there are more important things to discuss than Stiles’ sex life.’, Derek said. ‘Well, no, we still have to discuss his sex life, but from a different perspective.’

‘Yeah, like how I am supposed to _not_ have sex with Annabel.’

Scott sighed. ‘Let’s call the others and then you’ll tell us everything you know about this thing.’

Δ

After a lengthy talk, Scott decided they’d try to talk to Annabel first, not kill her on the spot, even though it seemed she killed 3 people in the last 4 months. Stiles thought that it was just what she needed to survive, so talking to her first would be a good plan. Surprising everyone except Stiles, Derek agreed.

Stiles was supposed to go to work tomorrow after school, and act as normal as possible. He’d try to get the succubus alone and see if he can get her to confess what she is. However, nobody was thrilled by the prospect of leaving Stiles alone with her. So Derek suggested he’d stay at the coffee shop across the street from the library, and that Stiles would call him if there were any problems. They’d all agreed it’s a good plan, and Scott said he’d stay with Derek too.

‘That only leaves us with one problem.’, Lydia pointed out.

‘What problem?, Scott sighed.

‘The fact that Stiles is a bit desperate by definition, and he might end up succumbing to the succubus’ magic.’

At their confused expression, she rolled her eyes. ‘She might convince him to have sex with her.’

‘I’m not desperate.’, Stiles scoffed. Lydia raised an eyebrow.

‘Anymore’, Stiles added. ‘I’m not desperate anymore. But yes, you have a point. However, there’s this tinsy tiny blood spell that I could do and I’d be immune to her magic.’

‘We’ll do it’, Scott said. ‘Wait. Does it hurt?’

‘No, it doesn’t hurt me.’, Stiles rubbed the back of his head.

‘Explain.’, Derek demanded.

Stiles looked at Lydia and smiled. ‘Blood spell that could make me immune to her magic.’

‘Yes?’, she frowned.

‘Immune to her magic.’

‘I don’t follow.’

‘ _Immune_ ’, he waved his hands around frantically.

Lydia sighed. ‘You need my blood?’

‘That’s why I love you, woman.’, Stiles grinned. ‘You’re always happy to bleed for me! However, I’m going to need a few drops of your blood, but I’m also going to need for you to kiss me and a few drops of Scott and Derek’s blood.’

‘Why?’, Lydia asked with no emotion in her voice.

‘I need you to kiss me and give me your blood because you’re a supernatural creature that the succubus isn’t interested in, you know, being a woman and all. And I need Scott and Derek’s blood because they’re the most powerful wolves in the two packs in who’s territory she’s trespassing.’

‘I’m the only wolf of my pack in this territory.’, Derek raised an eyebrow.

‘Thus, the strongest.’

Lydia sighs. ‘Where should we bleed?’

Stiles gets up and grabs a paper towel, holding it flat in his right hand. He then gets a needle and gives it to Lydia.

‘One or two drops in the middle of the napkin. Just prick your finger or something.’

‘Are you going to hold the napkin like that?’

‘Yup. First you, then Scott, then Derek. Then, there’s a small spell I have to say, and then we have to kiss for at least 13 seconds.’

‘Why 13?’, Lydia asked, already dripping blood on the napkin.

‘Magical number and all. Isaac, could you please time it on your phone?’

By the time Stiles had all the blood he needed soaked in the napkin, everyone was watching him with interest. They’d never seen him do a spell, not like this. Stiles grinned and stood in front of Lydia.

‘Ready, my strawberry blonde queen?’

‘Yes, get on with it’, she laughs.

‘Ok. The spell has 16 words. I’m going to say the 16 words in Latin, and when I’m done saying these exact 16 words, you’re going to kiss me, ok? Because you have to be the one who kisses me. You can’t touch me anywhere else, just lips on lips. Isaac will time the 13 seconds, but after he says it’s done, I’d rather you hold on for another second or two so we can be sure. Okay?’

‘That’s specific.’

‘That’s magic.’, Stiles shrugged. ‘You ready?’

‘Yes. Go on with it.’

So Stiles did. He said the words, slowly and calmly, looking into Lydia’s eyes, holding the napkin in his right hand. He felt the usual sparks he felt when he did any type of magic. He’ll never admit out loud, but Stiles was delighted to do this in front of Lydia, because she could see understanding on her face. She knows the words Stiles is saying, and she knows the meaning of them. Plus, because this is the first time she’s seeing him do a spell, there’s a bit on wonder in her eyes, too. Stiles has to smile when he realizes that.

After he’s done talking, Lydia kisses him. It doesn’t mean anything, not for him, not for her. It’s just something they have to do. But Lydia still kisses him pretty passionately. Even though she’s not touching him and even though she barely opens her mouth, he knows it looks intense from the outside world.

‘Done’, Isaac says, voice filled with shock.

Stiles pulls away 2 seconds later, and the bloodied tissue in his hand bursts into purple flames. It doesn’t hurt Stiles at all, and in a couple of seconds, there’s nothing left of it. Stiles flexes his fingers and smiles at Lydia.

‘You know, if we do this one more time, Aidan’s gonna have an excuse to rip my throat out.’

‘Three’s a pattern’, she nods.

‘Is it done?’, Scott asks.

‘Yup. She won’t be able to sex me up now.’, Stiles grins.

‘Good. Great. Can we go home now?’, Lydia rolls her eyes.

‘Sure. Thanks guys! See you tomorrow.’

Stiles hugs the wolves and Lydia kisses his cheek. When she makes a move towards Derek, he uses his werewolf speed and grabs her neck. He’s not hurting her, but he gently turns her head and kisses her cheek.

‘Good night, Lydia’, he smiles, letting go of her.

She laughs. ‘Never knew you had game, Hale’.

After they leave, Stiles starts cooking dinner. Derek doesn’t help, but he does keep him company, sitting on a chair with his feet up on the table. He’s not wearing shoes, he never does in the house.

‘Your babies would be beautiful.’, he says, making Stiles drop a bowl on the table.

‘What?’

‘Pale skin, red hair, moles everywhere, big brown eyes. Adorable.’

‘I’ll never get used to you joking’, Stiles says after a beat.

Derek frowns. ‘I’m serious.’

‘Yeah, well, it’s not gonna happen. Like. Ever.’

‘You sure about that? She seemed pretty into it.’, Derek shrugs.

Stiles chuckles. ‘It’s Lydia, man. She doesn’t do things half way. But yeah, I’m sure. If we’d even try to be in a relationship, it’d be so intense and destructive, we’d end up driving each other insane. I mean, don’t get me wrong, the sex would be amazing. Out of this world, even. But I’m not the type to give away my mental sanity over an exceptional lay.’

‘That’s surprising.’, Derek says, slowly.

‘That’s rude.’, Stiles points out, but he’s smiling.

‘Well, I’m sorry’, the wolf laughs. ‘But last time I checked, you were head over heels in love with her, waxing poetics about her… everything. I didn’t even know you’re into guys.’

‘To be fair, you never did really ask.’, Stiles grins.

Derek takes his feet off the table, and rests his head one of his hand, elbow dangerously close to his cup of coffee. ‘Tell me you’re not in love with Lydia Martin.’

Stiles moves the cup away and stares Derek down. ‘I love Lydia Martin, but I am not in love with Lydia Martin. Satisfied?’

‘Yeah’, Derek nods. ‘Sorry, but I just… it’s astonishing to me that you’re over her.’

Stiles laughs. ‘Understandable. Imagine my surprise when I realized. Ha, what an interesting day that was.’

Derek shakes his head. ‘You’re exhausting.’

‘Yet highly entertaining’, Stiles beams.

‘When the hell did you grow up?’, the wolf asks, oddly soft.

Stiles bites his lip. ‘Step one: dead mother when I was 8. Step two: introduction to the wonderful world of werewolves when I was 16. Step three: introduction to the wonderful world of magic when I was 17.’

‘Do you regret it?’

‘Yes, I regret my mother dying.’, he answers, slowly.

‘No, Stiles.’, Derek looks sad. ‘I mean the … Do you regret finding out? About us?’

‘Never’, Stiles answers, easily.

‘You should.’

‘I know. But I don’t. How can I? Beyond everything else…’, Stiles shrugs. ‘I don’t know if you noticed, but I gained quite a few friends.’

‘That’s kind of incredible too.’, Derek answers softly, with a small smile on his face.

‘Hey, as long as you realize you’re in the club too, now, it’s all good.’

Derek shakes his head.

‘I mean it, big guy. We’ve all missed you, you know. Some more than others. On one hand, you have Isaac who, even though he’s close to Scott and Allison now, told me once, late one night, that he cared about you and that he felt like his brother left him all over again. On the other hand, you have Scott who, even though it took him a while to get here, looks up to you and wants to prove you he’s a good Alpha.’

‘Stop kissing my ass’, Derek says, blushing.

Stiles ignores him. ‘Even Allison said things would be better if you’d be here. She’s not over everything, as I’m sure you’re not either, but she’s trying. Lydia told me that she can’t miss you, because she doesn’t know you. But that she’d like too, seeing how we feel about you. And don’t get me started on Deaton. Yeah, the guy’s an emotionless face mask, but he was the most connected to you, you know? Through Talia. The only thing he said to us when you left was that you deserve to put yourself together. And you did, Derek, you really did. And I’m so proud of you. I couldn’t have done what you did after you left. Hell, I’m not doing it. But you did, and you came back. And you’re staying. And that’s… good. That’s so fucking good.’

‘Since when do we have emotional conversations?’, Derek smiles, finally looking up to meet Stiles’ eyes.

‘I assume it all started when you stopped pushing me against walls.’

Derek laughs. ‘Your father’s been listening in for the past 5 minutes’, he whispers.

‘Dad, you’re not a teenager anymore, get in here!’, Stiles yells.

The Sheriff comes in, looking guilty. ‘Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt.’

‘Yeah, sure, like I believe you’, Stiles scoffs, but there’s no heat to it. ‘Go upstairs, wash up and change, dinner will be ready in half an hour and it will present to you with an extra serving of healthy veggies.’

The Sheriff grunts and leaves the kitchen.

‘Are we not going to tell him about the succubus?’, Derek asks.

‘Nope, we have a deal. I tell him everything after it happens, unless I need his help. And if I ever get hurt, especially if it’s a situation in which he could have helped me, but didn’t because I didn’t call, he’ll raise me from the dead and kill me again.’

‘That’s reasonable. And completely not normal.’, Derek concludes.

‘Get used to it.’

Δ

The next day, Stiles went to the library. Every time Annabel was around him, he sensed magic in his gut, the spell working. But Stiles was a good actor, so he flirted with her, responded to every come on she’d make. But he felt no attraction towards her, and he made sure to let Derek and Scott know that.

When his shift ended, Annabel crowded him in her office. They kissed, and her hands roamed frantically over his body. In the end, he suggested they’d go out, and because she said he was so young for the 5th time that day, he chuckled and bit her neck.

‘You keep saying I’m young. How about I prove to you how young I am, huh? How about I drive you up to the make out spot in the Preserve? Would that be good for you?’

She kissed him forcefully, digging her nails in the side of his neck. ‘I just need 5 minutes to wrap up here. Wait for me in your car?’

Stiles nodded and got away from her. He ran to the jeep and called Derek.

‘What happened?’, he answered in a concerned voice.                      

‘Oh, you know, just making out with the succubus in the back of the library. The usual Tuesday.’

‘Stiles’, the wolf growled.

‘I’m fine. Everything’s fine. She didn’t hurt me and I still don’t like her. It’s all good. Also, she’s coming down in 3 minutes, and I’m gonna drive her to the make out spot in the Preserve, and then I’ll walk her to the place where we stashed Jackson in the police van, remember where that is, Scott?’

‘Yes, he does.’, Derek said.

‘Good. Meet you there. Get the rest of the pack. Deaton too, if possible. I’ll drive slowly to buy you some time.’

‘Be safe, Stiles’. And then Derek hung up, just as Annabel made her way to the jeep.

The drive was silent, and Stiles made sure to take the long way to the preserve. She kept her hand on his thigh, not reaching up to his crotch. The touch still sent sparks through Stiles’ body, he felt magic everywhere around him. But he made sure to keep himself calm, to keep himself in role, and make sure she doesn’t suspect anything.

After they parked the car, Stiles took Annabel by the hand and led her into the woods.

‘Where are we going?’, she giggled.

‘Well, we can’t exactly stay here, can we? I know for a fact that the Deputies patrol around here every night, and I don’t exactly want them to see me banging my boss in the backseat.’

She laughed and pressed her body to his, but Stiles kept walking. ‘There’s a clearing nearby. Nobody goes there. You’re adventurous, aren’t you? You don’t mind a little bit of nature.’

Annabel didn’t respond verbally, she just gently bit into the back of Stiles’ neck. They were in the clearing by now, and Stiles was surprised the pack wasn’t already there. So he guided her towards the nearest tree, and kept her there, kissing her and biting bruises into her neck, hoping she won’t figure out that Stiles wasn’t getting off on it, and hoping the pack will get there quickly.

And they did. Stiles knew the exact moment the pack came out into the clearing, because Annabel stopped doing anything, she just froze in place, looking over Stiles’ shoulder. Next thing he knows, his back is pressed to the tree and she’s standing in front of him, in a defensive stance. He sees Scott and Derek flashing their eyes, Isaac and the twins have their claws already out, Lydia is holding her knife tightly, and Allison has an arrow aimed straight at Annebel’s heart, even though they know normal weapons can’t hurt a succubus.

‘I’ll protect you.’, Annabel whispered.                                           

Stiles snorted, he couldn’t stop himself. She turned quickly to him, a shocked look on her face. He gets out from behind her, and makes his way towards the pack.

‘Stiles, your friends aren’t human.’, Annabel says, slowly.

‘You’re not human, either.’, he shrugs and looks at her, walking backwards away from her.

‘Stiles, come here, please.’, she says, a fake tear falling on her cheek.

‘Neah.’, he answers simply, now standing between Scott and Derek.

‘Come here.’, she yells, her eyes turning white for a split second.

‘Hell no.’

She blinks, confused. ‘What… what did you do?’

‘A bit of magic?’, Stiles raises an eyebrow.

Her expression changes instantly. She’s angry and her eyes turn completely white, remaining that way. Her nails grow, longer than the wolves’ claws, and they’re completely black. Then, she takes a step towards the pack, big, black wings appearing on her back and her clothes disappear.

Stiles quickly flicks his wrist and traps her into a ring of mountain ash. She screams, and all the wolves have to cover their ears. It’s worse than Lydia’s scream, Stiles thinks. Even though she’s screaming, it also seems like she’s whispering. The odd sound makes even Stiles’ ears hurt.

‘Enough’, he says, not even bothering to raise his voice.

She stops screaming, and while the wolves take a second to heal their ears, Stiles takes a good look at the succubus in front of them. She looks sick. The wings look like someone burnt the feathers, her skin is white and sweaty, and several spots on her arms and legs looked moldy. Her long black nails are dripping… something, and her eyes are completely white. Her hail is tangled and her lips look bruised. She looks disgusting.

 ‘You’ve killed innocent people’, Derek starts saying in a cold voice.

‘We know you’ve killed only enough to survive, but there has to be another way. One that doesn’t involve murder.’, Scott says.

She addresses Scott, but doesn’t take her eyes off Stiles.

‘There are other ways I could feed, Alpha. But they’re not nearly as fun.’

‘We were hoping we’d convince you to stop killing people’, Scott sighs.

‘No’, she smirks.

‘Look, lady.’, Stiles says, condescending as always. ‘You should really reconsider that decision.’

She licked her lips as her eyes trailed down Stiles’ body. He ignored the flash of uncomfortableness he got. ‘No, really. You haven’t fed in a couple of weeks, so your strengths are low. You’re surrounded by 2 twin Alphas, a true Alpha, two Betas, a Banshee, an Argent and… me. You’re also in a mountain ash circle. Rethink your answer.’

‘No.’ She licks her lips and steps forward, as close to the line of ash she can get. She starts flapping her wings. ‘How about I eat you all instead? How about I take my time with you, Stiles?’, she purrs.

Derek starts growling, but Stiles puts a hand in between his shoulder blades and the wolf relaxes.

‘If you actually think’, Stiles narrows his eyes, ‘that flapping your wings will blow the ash away, you are seriously underestimating me.’

The succubus stops moving and tilts her heat to one side. ‘I’m going to kill you last. Take my time with you, sweet boy. You have no idea how good your insides taste.’ Then, she starts pushing at the invisible wall created by the mountain ash.

Scott takes a step forward and turns around, so that he’s facing the pack.

‘All in favor of killing it, raise your hand.’

Stiles chuckles at Scott’s way of handling things, but he raises his hand nonetheless. They all do. Except Derek.

‘Well?’, Scott insists. ‘You think we shouldn’t kill her?’

Derek blinks. ‘No, I… I didn’t realize you were asking me too.’

Scott fixes him with his best ‘You’re stupid’ look, while the succubus yells.

‘You’re wasting your breath, child. You can’t kill me.’

Scott turns around. ‘Wanna bet?’ He turns again and walks until he’s standing behind Stiles. ‘No, you’re right, I can’t kill you. Stiles can.’

Stiles takes a step forward and lifts his right hand. ‘Have I mentioned there is an Argent allied with the wolf pack of this land? Do you not know about the Argents? And their bestiaries?’

The succubus shakes her head and transforms back to human form. She’s naked and she now looks beautiful.

‘That won’t help you, Annabel. I’m still going to burn your wings.’

She starts crying. ‘You can’t kill me! You have never killed something in your entire life.’, she screams. ‘Not even a bug. You can’t take a life!’

‘I’m sorry’, Stiles walks until he’s one feet away from the ash. ‘But you deserve to die.’

He throws his hands out, in a way similar to how the wolves flash their claws, and Annabel transforms again, from human to succubus. Stiles’ finger twitch and her wings start to burn. She starts screaming, and the wolves cover their ears again, and Stiles pours more power in the flames, to finish it faster.

Just like before, with the Alpha, when the fire is out and there’s nothing left but ashes, Stiles flicks his right hand and everything gets blown into the forest.

‘I will never get used to that.’, Derek says from somewhere behind Stiles, voice filled with awe.

Stiles turns around and grins. ‘You wanna see something better, big guy?’

He didn’t let Derek respond. Stiles quickly blew a gust of wind in the wolf’s face, making him stumble a few steps back. When he righted himself, everybody started laughing.

Derek froze. He looked down at himself, seeing that nothing changed. He felt normal. ‘What did you do?’, he growled at Stiles. But Stiles couldn’t stop laughing enough to explain. It was Lydia who made his way towards Derek and handed him a pocket mirror.

Derek’s jaw dropped when he saw his reflection. His hair was bright red. Bright, bright, Ariel levels of bright red.

‘Stiles’, he started growling. But then he stopped and angled the mirror differently. ‘Huh. This is actually hot. I look pretty hot.’

Everybody fell silent at that. Stiles started laughing again.

Δ

They don’t have school the next day, because it’s the high school’s anniversary and they always get a free day. And considering all the weather reports said it’s going to be nice outside, they make plans to spend the day in the forest, near the river, a place that’s always deserted, Derek promises. So they talk about bringing food and drinks, blankets and games.

‘Who am I driving?’, Stiles asks when they’re making carpooling plans.

‘Me and Derek.’, Scott grins.

‘Right. Be at my place at 9.’

‘No, I’ll be at your place at 8:30 and you’ll feed me breakfast.’

‘You’ll be at my place at 8 and you’ll help me make breakfast.’

Scott pouts. ‘Fine, but you’re making pancakes.’

‘Fine, but you’re going to wash the dishes.’, Stiles laughs.

‘Have they always been this married?’, Aidan asks, casually.

‘Yes’, Allison, Lydia and Derek answer seriously, at the same time.

‘You’re all just jealous of our incredible relationship’, Stiles pouts, side hugging Scott and trailing a hand under his shirt, making the wolf giggle.

Derek shares a look with Allison. ‘Heterosexual life partners.’, he says seriously, and the girl agrees, nodding enthusiastically.

Stiles and Scott stare at them.

‘They’re kinda right. On the life partners, not quite on the heterosexuality.’ Stiles winks.

‘Yup’, the wolf agrees. ‘Mom says we’ve been dating since we were 10.’

‘Interesting. Freud’s got nothing on us.’, Stiles grins.

‘Totally’.

‘You’re sickening.’, Derek sighs. ‘Adorable, but sickening.’

‘Awh, hear that Scotty? Big bad werewolf thinks we’re adorable!’, Stiles coos.

Derek just shoves him aside and gets into the jeep.

Δ

As promised, Scott is in Stiles’ bedroom at 8 am, waking him up by jumping in the bed.

‘Come on, sleepy head. You promised pancakes and your dad is already making coffee!’

Stiles groans, but he does get out of bed. ‘Give me 5 minutes to shower. You should start and wake Derek up.’

‘Start?’, Scott lifts an eyebrow.

‘He’s awful in the mornings. It usually takes 10 minutes and 3 bruises to wake him up.’ Stiles doesn’t wait for a response, he grabs clean clothes and heads for the bathroom.

When he comes out 10 minutes later, he finds Scott in the guest room, sitting near Derek on the bed, poking his side. Derek doesn’t say one word.

Stiles laughs and makes his way towards the bed, bending over Scott so he can shove his hand under the covers, putting it on Derek’s bicep. ‘Come on, big guy. Coffee awaits down stairs.’

Derek hums and Scott stares.

‘If you’re down in 5 minutes, I’ll put chocolate in your pancakes.’, Stiles grins.

‘Pancakes?’, Derek asks sleepily, not even bothering to turn his head around.

‘5 minutes’, Stiles reminds him, grabbing Scott’s hand and heading towards the kitchen.

Derek does, in fact, reach the kitchen 5 minutes later, just as Stiles starts frying the first pancake. His hair is a mess and he’s still wearing his pajama, a pair of plaid pants and an old Beacon Hills Police Department tshirt he stole from Stiles. He stumbles into the seat next to the Sheriff, sniffing and rubbing at his eyes.

Stiles puts a cup of coffee in his hands, ruffling his hair. Derek doesn’t even flinch, mumbling a silent ‘Thanks’.

They’re silent while Stiles cooks, the Sheriff reading the paper, Derek drinking his coffee and Scott playing on his phone. When he’s done, Stiles places plates in front of them. For the Sheriff, pancakes with butter and sugar, maple syrup for Scott, chocolate for Derek and strawberry jam for himself.

‘Man, I’ve missed your pancakes’, Scott groans around a mouthful.

‘Me too’, the Sheriff agrees.

‘I made pancakes last week’, Stiles reminds them. ‘It’s not my fault you were busy at the station and Scott had a hot date.’

The wolf blushes while Stiles’ dad chuckles. ‘I don’t think I’ll ever get used to this.’, he smiles.

‘To what?’, Derek mumbles.

‘My kids being all grown up’, the Sheriff shrugs. ‘Going on dates and buying condoms.’, he makes a face as the boys groan.

‘Dad, we’ve talked about this’, Stiles whines. ‘Not an appropriate breakfast topic.’

‘Sorry, I know. I just…’, he sighs.

‘My mom’s under the impression that Stiles and I have been dating since we were 10’, Scott grins.

‘And she’s right’, the Sheriff smiles. ‘Honestly, the shocked expression she had on her face when she told me Scott started dating was priceless.’

Stiles frowns. ‘She told you that?’

‘Of course.’

Scott and Stiles share a look. ‘What else did she tell you?’, the wolf asks.

Derek starts laughing silently, but he doesn’t say anything.

‘Come on, kids’, the Sheriff shakes his head, smiling at Scott. ‘After Claudia and your dad, Melissa and I basically raised you together. I taught you how to drive and she stayed with Stiles when he had his tonsils removed. We took turns in making your lunches for school, hell, we even took turns in taking you on vacations. That’s co-parenting. At its finest, if I might add, cause we did a pretty good job at it.’

Stiles and Scott just stare at each other, understanding and shock on their faces.

Derek chuckles. ‘My mother used to say that parents aren’t the ones who gave birth to you, but the ones who wipe away your tears and sit through your boring music recitals.’

‘Talia was right’, the Sheriff said, and Stiles was surprised that Derek didn’t have any visible reaction on the mention of his mother’s name. ‘However’, his dad continued, ‘in our case it was boring Lacrosse games.’

‘Did you two ever date?’, Derek asked casually, making Stiles and Scott jump in their seats.

‘No’, the Sheriff rolled his eyes. ‘We were both too heartbroken to even think about that. And who the hell has time for dating nowadays, anyways?’

‘Mmmh’, Derek hums. ‘It’s a shame, though. Your children would be the perfect combination of heart and brawn. Plus, they’d be adorable. Mini Scott-Stiles hybrids running around.’, he says in a completely normal voice.

Stiles and Scott stare at him in disbelief, Stiles managing to make some dying whale noises. After a few tense seconds, Derek and the Sheriff start laughing.

‘Oh my god’, Stiles groans, looking in desperation at Scott. ‘They’ve teamed up. They’ve teamed up against us. The end is near.’, he says, horror on his face.

‘Next time we do this’, the Sheriff gets up and puts a hand on Derek’s shoulder, ‘we have to make sure Melissa’s here for the show.’

‘Definitely’, Derek nods and gets up as well. ‘I’m gonna go shower. Thank you for breakfast, Stiles. It was delicious’, he grins mischievously.

When they’re alone in the kitchen, Stiles and Scott stare at each other for a few seconds.

‘The end is near.’, Scott nods.

Stiles shivers and starts cleaning up the table.

Δ

As soon as they get to the clearing at the river’s bank, they girls lose their clothes quickly, both of them remaining in bathing suits, while the boys take a bit more time to get their t-shirts off.

The twins, Scott and Danny started playing a game of volleyball, while Isaac and Derek started a game of cards . Stiles shared a blanket with them, but he was reading, and close to him the girls were sharing another blanket, tanning and talking in a tone that suggested gossip.

After a few rounds that ended in Derek loosing, Isaac decided he was done with playing cards, so he stretched on the blanket next to Stiles, leaving enough room for the other wolf to do the same.

‘What are you reading?’, Isaac peeked over Stiles’ shoulder.

‘Percy Jackson.’

‘Seriously?’, Isaac asked incredulously, while Derek chuckled. ‘You do know we have a huge list of things we have to read for school, right?’

‘I read them already.’

‘What, all of them?’

‘Mhm.’

‘How is that even possible?’, Isaac groaned.

‘You know, the nights tend to get pretty long and boring when you don’t sleep.’, Stiles shrugged.

‘How many times have you read these books before?’, Derek asked, knowing Stiles doesn’t like to talk about himself and what he’s going through.

Stiles grinned. ‘5 times. ‘

‘You relate to him, don’t you?’, Lydia asks, not bothering to open her eyes. ‘Because of the ADD and the major hero complex.’

‘You know, I should be offended’, Stiles smiled. ‘But I can’t get over the fact that you read them.’

‘No comment’, Lydia answered, after a beat.

‘Come on’, Allison joined in. ‘Who hasn’t read them? It’s a rite of passage.’

‘Yes, exactly’, Stiles agrees. ‘Just like Harry Potter.’

Derek groans.

‘Dude!’, Stiles yelled. ‘Don’t tell me you don’t like Harry Potter!’

‘I like Harry Potter just fine. The first 3 times around. The next 10, not so much.’

‘Then why did you read them 13 times?’, Isaac asked, smiling.

‘Laura made me read them to her.  Over and over and over again.’

Everybody was silent, because they weren’t used to Derek talking about his family, much less with a smile on his face. Stiles, however, chuckled.

‘That’s adorable. Big bad sourwolf reading bedtime stories.’

Derek growled and glared. Stiles laughed even harder.

‘How is it, living with Stiles, anyway?’, Lydia asked in a serious tone. ‘We had bets going on, how long it will take for you to kill him.’

Derek rolled his eyes and put his hands underneath his head, closing his eyes. ‘It’s not as bad as I would’ve thought. Not as annoying as you’d think, Stiles isn’t obnoxiously bothering me every second of every hour. Plus, he’s a good cook. And the bed in the guestroom is fucking amazing.’

‘Such high praise’, Stiles muttered.

‘You’ve all changed’, Derek ignored him. ‘I wasn’t gone for long, but you’ve all changed. You’re more mature and responsible now. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing, you’re still kids, and you’re throwing away your childhood, but… You need to be stronger, for whatever comes next.’

‘We gave up being kids a long time ago.’, Allison smiled, but it still sounded bitter.

‘Some of us weren’t kids for that long’, Stiles agreed.

‘It’s still not right.’, Derek sighed.

‘Neither was Kate orphaning you when you were our age.’, Allison said, voice full of rage.

Derek turned to look at her, eyes searching her face for a sign of something. He must have found what he was looking for, because he smiled.

‘Allison, we’re hanging out. You and me. Our ancestors are rolling in their graves.’, Derek chuckled.

She laughed. ‘Let them.’

‘Getting back on topic’, Lydia waved a hand absently, ‘you didn’t start looking for apartments?’

‘Oh, I did. I even found a few. I even liked a few. The Sheriff didn’t.’, Derek answered, angrily.

‘You’re…’, Lydia giggled. ‘You’re asking the Sheriff’s opinion on apartments, and he doesn’t approve, so you’re still staying at his house.’

Derek sighs. ‘I didn’t exactly ask for his opinion. He just… showed up.’

‘That’s my dad for you’, Stiles smiled. ‘Getting in people business, even though it doesn’t concern him. I did learn from the best.’

‘He’s just overprotective of Derek.’, Allison said.

‘True’, Stiles agreed.

‘But why?’, Derek frowned.

‘He thinks he’s done wrong by you, so he’s trying to make up for it. And don’t even act like you don’t enjoy it, you talked about baseball for two hours last night. Two freaking hours.’

‘Jealous?’, Derek grinned, looking at Stiles.

‘Of course not. He always wanted another kid, so don’t be surprised if he treats you like one. I, however, don’t need another brother, thank you very much.’

‘That’s terrifying.’, Derek says, after a beat.

Isaac pats him on the shoulder. ‘Welcome to the family. Papa Stilinski has adopted all of us by now. Just wait till it’s your birthday.’

Everybody starts laughing at that, except Derek, who looks genuinely afraid. They laugh even harder.

Δ

A couple of hours later, they were all sitting on blankets, eating lunch. The couples were in each other’s arms, so that left Derek, Stiles and Scott sharing a blanket. Isaac made a joke about it being the ‘singles corner’, to witch Stiles responded by putting his head in Derek’s lap and his feet in Scott’s. They both rolled their eyes, but didn’t push him away, so Stiles started talking about threesomes and about how love knows no boundaries.

‘How do you guys know Derek anyway?’, Danny asked, interrupting him.

Stiles felt Derek and Scott still beneath him, so he started explaining.

‘You know when Derek first came back in Beacon Hills, and Laura was found dead and the police thought he did it?’

Danny nodded, looking cautiously towards Derek.

‘That was us’, Stiles laughed. ‘We did that, me and Scott. But of course, he was exonerated soon after cause he was innocent.’

‘But then there was the thing at the school?’, Danny questioned, frowning.

‘Yeah, that was us as well. But we helped him prove his innocence soon after.’

‘So that’s why he…’, Danny kept frowning. ‘That’s why he was in your room, when the police and your dad were looking for him.’

Derek chuckled lightly, and Stiles grinned up at him.

‘Yup. What can I say, wrongfully accusing someone of murder brings people close.’

Danny shook his head. ‘What about your dad? Don’t get me wrong, Derek, but how is the Sheriff okay with someone who was accused of murder twice living in his house? No offence.’

‘None taken’, Derek smiled.

But before he got to continue, Stiles started talking again.

‘You remember a couple of months back, when our English teacher sacrificed all those people? And kidnapped my dad, and Scott’s mom and Allison’s father? Well, Derek was dating her.’

Danny’s eyes grew wider and he looked a little pale.

Stiles shrugged and continued. ‘After I figured out someone was sacrificing people in increments of 3, based on types, you know, virgins, healers, guardians and so on, I started thinking of a motive, you know? Derek helped me figure it out, he stayed with me while my dad was gone. We figured out that whoever was doing this thought he/she was a druid. We didn’t know it was her at the time.’

‘A druid?’, Danny asked. ‘As in… magic?’

‘Yup. Ritual sacrifices using the tree fold death are supposed to increase a druid’s power.’

‘That makes no sense. There’s no such thing as magic.’, Danny frowned.

‘Of course not.’, Stiles smiled. ‘But Jennifer was insane, and she believed she was a druid.’

‘What does this have to do with Derek, Stiles?’, Danny asked, impatiently.

‘After we figured that out, Derek here remembered a particular story from his childhood. About witches, and magic, and a magical tree.’

‘What?’, Danny asked, flatly, while the rest of his friends were looking at him like he was insane.

‘The Hales had a huge part of the forest. It was theirs, you know. Imagine growing up having the forest as your back yard. And picture having a family so old, they lived on the same land for generations. So of course some of the bedtimes stories were connected to the land, and the forest and stories old as time have always been connected to magic and the power land holds.’

Stiles ignored the looks everybody was giving him, especially Derek, and Scott’s hand tightening on his leg.

‘This particular story, the one Derek remembered, talked about a tree, deep in the forest, that had magic powers and could give its power to a witch. He told me it was an oak tree, and when I remembered that druids were connected to oaks for centuries, I knew that’s where they were.’

‘You also figured out it was Jennifer’, Derek muttered.

Stiles shrugged. ‘Yeah I did. I had no proof, though. It was just a feeling, a thought. I told you, I don’t know why, but I did tell you. And even though you didn’t believe me, you still helped me.’

‘So, Derek and I, and Scott, Allison and Isaac went there, to that oak tree which has cut, for some reason, and we found our parents and Jennifer. While we were busy releasing our folks, Derek and Isaac talked to her. The bitch was insane, she actually believed she had magic, but of course she didn’t. And she said that she did it for Derek, and a whole lot of bullshit. In her insanity, I think she actually fell in love with him. But he wasn’t having any of her shit, he didn’t believe her. In the end, she ran away, we weren’t able to find her, but there’s a worldwide price on her head.’

Danny’s jaw was dropped and he was speechless. The rest of their friends were looking at Stiles with guilt, but with awe too. Stiles never got to tell them the full story they told the police.

‘So, you know, after that particular episode’, Stiles continued. ‘After Derek helped us, even though he didn’t have to, after finding out his girlfriend was fucking things up, and he still helped us, yeah, of course Dad saw him in a different light.’

‘Jesus’, Danny hissed. ‘Does everything normal ever happen in this town?’

Stiles shrugged.

‘Yesterday the guy at the gas station gave me a free cupcake.’, Derek said in a normal voice.

‘Why?’, Stiles asked, after a beat.

‘He said it was Free Cupcake Day for people with blue eyes.’

‘Your eyes are green.’, Stiles pointed out.’Green-ish. Sometimes, they’re green. Or gray. Gray-green?’

‘I don’t care, I got a free cupcake.’

 

Stiles wanted to say something, but he had to stop talking. He felt a wave of electricity travel his body and his hands got instantly cold.

‘Shit’, he breathed as he got up and turned around. As soon as he was facing the river, four people appeared in front of them. They just appeared, out of thin air. Two men, two women, all wearing black clothes, modern, but nothing that stood out. They all had long hair and the women wore no jewelry or makeup. They stopped 20 feet in front of them.

‘Witches’, Stiles whispered, knowing the wolves would hear him. Ethan quickly moved in front of Danny, Isaac in front of Allison and Aiden in front of Lydia. That left Scott, Derek and Stiles in the front and middle of their group.

‘You are tress-‘, Scott started to say but one of the women interrupted him.

‘We do not have any business with you, wolf.’

The man on her side elbowed her in the stomach. ‘Alpha’, she corrected herself. ‘We don’t have any business with you, Alpha McCall.’

Scott was visibly shocked by this, and Danny whispering ‘Alpha?’ behind him didn’t help.

Stiles turned around to Danny and tried to smile reassuringly. ‘Whatever happens, shut up.’ The boy looked like he wanted to ask something, but Ethan squeezed his hand and that silenced him.

‘Why are you here?’, Scott continued, in a firm voice.

 The woman took two steps forward, starting intently as Stiles, even though she addressed Scott.

‘We are not here to fight, Alpha. We’re here to make a proposition to a member of your pack.’

‘What proposition?’, Stiles asked, raising his chin, because it was obvious she was talking about him.

The woman smiled and took a few steps forward, stopping 5 feet in front of Stiles. She was quite beautiful, Stiles thought. Just a few years older than him, she had big, bright blue eyes and pale skin, and her long hair was a dark blonde color.

‘My name is –‘

‘I don’t care’, Stiles interrupted, rolling his eyes. ‘What do you want?’

The woman stopped smiling, but she did nod understandingly. ‘We want to offer you a place in our coven. Our leader thought its best I talked to you, because I am closer to your age.’

Stiles took a few seconds to answer, staring jawdropped at the woman and at the people she came with.

‘Why would I want to join a coven of witches?’, he asked with no inflection in his voice.

‘Because you are a witch.’, she narrowed her eyes.

‘Not exactly.’, Stiles shrugged.

‘Yeah, no, you’re a witch. By any definition. Ever.’, she chuckled.

Stiles rolled his eye. She was just a teenager, he could handle a teenager. ‘Let me rephrase that, blondie. Why would I want to join a coven of witches when I’m already in a pack of werewolves?’

‘You’re not their emissary, Stiles’, she said, sounding condescending.

Derek growled a bit when she snarled his name. Stiles ignored him.

‘So?’, he raised an eyebrow.

‘You’re not using your powers.’, she explained, like she was talking to a small child. ‘Your talent is going to waste. You’re not learning anything new with them. Come with us, and you’ll be more powerful, we’ll teach you everything we know and… You have potential, Stiles. You can be so much more than this, you’re powerful. They don’t see that, they’re taking you for granted and you’re wasting away.’

Derek and Scott both growled. Stiles hit them gently and they stopped.

He narrowed his eyes. ‘Are you happy?’

The witch frowned, and one of the men behind her let out a puff of air.

‘Are you happy?’, Stiles insisted. ‘In your coven. With your… partners, and your leader and your magic? Are you happy? Are you better then when you were home? Then when you were going to school and dealing with just dumb teachers and teenagers?’

‘Yes’, she answered after a beat. ‘Yes, I am happy.’

‘Lie’, all the werewolves said at the same time.

Stiles giggled. ‘And this is why I won’t come with you. Because this pack, they’re family. And we’re all happy. Yes, I’m powerful. I know that, and they know that. Believe me when I tell you that nobody is taking me for granted.’, he grinned. ‘I don’t want to learn anything from you.’

‘But there are so many things you don’t know.’

‘I know all that I need.’

‘You don’t’, she insisted, and Stiles could see she was getting mad.

He sighed. ‘Noting you say will make me change my mind.’

She turned to look at the other witches for a couple of seconds. ‘We figured.’

Next thing he knows, the magic around them grows stronger. Stiles feels the familiar tingles all over his body, but before he can react to it, one of the other witches flicks his wrist and Stiles can’t move. There’s a blue light around him and Derek is screaming his name. He feels the wolf’s hand on his shoulder, and he wants to yell, to tell him to not touch him, but it’s too late.

The last thing he sees before he passes out is the same blue light swallowing all the witches.

Δ

Stiles wakes up with a gasp. Nothing hurts, it doesn’t seem like he’s injured, but his head hurts a bit. He’s on a concrete floor, and there’s a bright blue door in front of him. He tries to open it using magic, but of course it doesn’t work. Thankfully, there’s a light bulb on the ceiling, so after he deduces he’s in a holding cell with no way out, he sees that Derek is laying beside him, still knocked out.

He doesn’t seem to be injured either, and his pulse is steady.

‘Derek, now is not the time to take a nap.’, Stiles doesn’t even bother raising his voice. But when Derek doesn’t react, he remembers how hard it normally is for the wolf to wake up.

Stiles sighs and rolls his eyes, even though nobody can see him. He straddles Derek’s thighs and punches him in the chest, quickly raising his hands afterwards, in a submissive manner.

Derek wakes up with a gasp, but makes no movement towards getting Stiles off him.

‘What happened?’, he asks, and his voice is hoarse.

‘The witches teleported us… Well, no, they teleported me and because you were a dumbass and touched me, they zapped you too.’

Derek glared.  ‘One’, he raised a finger, ‘I’m not a dumbass, I’m a werewolf who can, instinctually, protect you. Two, since when is teleportation real? Can you do that? Three, where are we? And last, but not least, why are you riding me?’

‘I’m not… What even… No.’, Stiles blushes furiously as he gets off Derek, crawling towards a wall and leaning against it.

‘I was joking, Stiles.’, Derek rolls his eyes.

‘And it’s still weird.’, Stiles answers, seriously. ‘And you know me, I love me some bad jokes as a form of distraction, but still, we’ve been kidnapped by witches. Not the best time for jokes, man.’

‘Yeah, what are we going to do about that?’, the wolfs asks, rubbing his eyes.

‘For now, we wait. Then, you leave things to me.’

Derek raises an eyebrow.

‘You’re going to trust me, trust me to get us out of here and to get rid of the witches, and you’re going to follow my lead and let me handle them.’

Derek raises his other eyebrow.

‘Because while you’re a werewolf, I am a witch, and I can beat them at their own game.’

‘You sure about that?’

‘Positive.’

‘Okay’, Derek nods.

Stiles grins.

Δ

Stiles figures out the whole room is warded against the use of magic. The witches didn’t take away their phones, but of course they have no service. At least they know they’ve only been gone for an hour. They have no idea where they are, though, the teleportation could have taken them anywhere in the world.

Three hours later, when the blonde witch comes into the room, she finds Stiles and Derek bored out of their minds, playing 20 questions. They don’t stop talking until they finish their round, laughing and bitching all the way, while the girl just closes the door behind her and stares.

When they stop talking and turn towards her, she whispers an incredulous ‘What the fuck?’

Stiles gets up from the floor and urges Derek to do so too. He smiles at the witch. ‘I’m sorry, were you in a hurry?’

‘Are you always this condescending with your kidnappers?’, she raises an eyebrow.

‘Yes, especially if I’ve got the upper hand.’

The girl whines, startling both men. ‘Are you delusional, Stiles? What the hell is wrong with you?’

‘With me?’, he yells, affronted. ‘What the hell is wrong with you? I refuse your offer, but you still kidnap me in front of my friends, who, by the way, not all of them knew about the existence of supernatural beings, thanks for that, god I hope they’re handling Danny well’, he looks towards Derek, who shrugs. ‘And’, Stiles points a finger at the girl, ‘I am so not delusional! Of course I have the upper hand right now. Yeah, you took precautions and I can’t use magic in this room, but that means that neither can you.’

‘And why does that mean you have the upper hand?’, she looks at Stiles up and down, a superior look on her face. ‘Cause you’re a guy?’, she snickers.

‘Of course not’, Stiles rolls his eyes. ‘Cause my friend right here is a werewolf. With claws.’

Before she is able to respond to that, Derek pushes her into a wall, clawed fingers closing around her neck. He’s not hurting her, but Stiles can see she’s afraid. Neither of them says anything for a couple of seconds, until Derek turns around and looks at Stiles.

‘What now?’

‘What, are you actually going to listen to me?’

‘Yes, Stiles’, Derek sighs. ‘You told me to trust you. This is me, trusting you. What now?’

Stiles grins. ‘Atta boy.’ Derek glares.

‘Now’, Stiles makes his way towards them and tucks a loose lock of hair behind the witches’ ear, ‘she takes us to her leader.’

Both Derek and the girl stare at him.

‘What’s your name, anyway?’, Stiles smiles. ‘I keep calling you _blondie_ in my head.’

‘Jane.’

‘Hi, Jane. I’m Stiles, as you know. And this one’s Derek. He’s going to let you go now, and you’re going to take us to the leader of your coven. No funny business on the way, though. Cause we really just want to negotiate with him.’

‘Negotiate what?’, she asks, weary.

‘The details of me joining your coven, of course.’, Stiles smiled.

Her eyes grew wider, but she nodded. Derek threw him a look, meaning he caught up with the fact that Stiles was lying.

After the wolf let her go, Jane took them down a brightly lit corridor, and Stiles was surprised to see that it wasn’t warded. He could use magic, and he took advantage of the fact that Jane was in front of them, making a small fire ball in his right hand, thus showing Derek that he wasn’t defenseless.

When Jane stopped in front of a door and smiled over her shoulder, Stiles was surprised at how calm he felt. He knew that Derek being there was a boost for his confidence, but even so, he wasn’t at all afraid or anxious, even though he was about to meet a powerful witch, a leader of a coven.  Even though Stiles was supposed to double cross him and escape, he had no doubt in his mind that he would succeed. Derek trusted him to get them out, and Stiles wasn’t going to betray his trust. He was strong and he could handle this. So he smiled at Jane.

‘Are we there yet?’

She chuckled and shook her head, opening the door in front of her. It led to a small garden, with a big table in the center of it, where 8 different witches stood. Just like before, they were all wearing boring black clothes, and had long hair. They were all young, except for the one who stood in the middle. The man was about 60 years old, his eyes a warm amber color and a soft smile on his lips. Stiles thought he was trying to look not at all threatening, but Stiles saw rage in his eyes. It sent a shiver down his spine, and Derek must have picked up on it, because the wolf put a hand on his lower back, guiding him forward into the garden. Stiles smiled, even though Derek didn’t see it.

When they reached the table, the old man stood up and smiled even wider.

‘Stiles, Derek. It’s a pleasure to meet you.’, he bowed his head. ‘My name is Henry and I –‘

‘Where are we?’, Stiles interrupted him, looking around the garden. ‘Is this a literal cabin in the woods? Why would you even bother putting up the fence when there’s a beautiful forest after it?’ He turned towards Derek. ‘Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore. And this is wrong, I don’t like wooden fences, they’re messing with my chi.’

Derek let out a long suffering puff of air. Stiles grinned and turned his head back to the wicth. His face was expressionless, but he was blinking a bit fast.

‘Uhhhh, sorry sir.’, Stiles smiled, sheepishly. ‘I forgot to take my meds, and my mouth tends to race my mind. And win. It’s a pleasure to meet you.’

‘What are you taking meds for?’, one of the other witches asked.

‘ADD.’

Henry raised his eyebrows. ‘You have ADD, but you finished training in 2 months?’

Stiles nodded. ‘I think I finished training in such little time _because_ I have ADD. My mind may be a mess, but it’s an organized mess, which I have learned to work with.’

‘Of course’, the man nodded. ‘But you do know it’s unheard of, boy. The normal training can take up to 5 years to finish. And I’m sure Deaton isn’t that good of a teacher, what you managed to do is slightly impossible.’

Stiles raised an eyebrow. ‘Deaton is an amazing teacher. I’m pretty sure he’s more powerful than you.’, he narrowed his eyes. ‘And a lot smarter , considering how he doesn’t flash his powers with every chance he gets.’

Derek put his hand on Stiles’ back, squeezing gently. Henry’s eyes traced the moment, but said nothing of it.

‘Stiles, you don’t know anything about me.’, he smiled. ‘But that is why I brought you here. So we can discuss and I’m sure in no time, you’ll be convinced to join us.’

‘When you say _brought_ ’, Stiles narrowed his eyes. ‘You mean kidnap. You kidnapped me in front of my friends, in front of the whole pack of Beacon Hills and brought me and Derek here, against our will, in the middle of nowhere. Where even are we?’

‘France’, Jane answered.

‘Merde!’, Stiles said, with feeling. Derek suppressed a laugh.

Henry ignored it. ‘You’re a very interesting character, Stiles. And the most interesting thing about you, we’ve noticed, is how you formulate things.’ He smiled.

Stiles blinked. ‘What does that mean?’

‘It means that you never refer to McCall as your Alpha, you never say _my_ pack. The pack, the Alpha, no form of possession or allegiance.’

‘Ah, yes. Noticed that, have you?’, Stiles chuckled, ignoring Derek’s frowning face. ‘And what does that tell you about me?’

‘It tells me that you don’t consider yourself part of McCall’s pack, but you never had the heart to tell him. Of course you help him and stand by his side, but you’re not his emissary and you don’t plan on ever being his emissary.’

‘Correct. Anything else?’, Stiles nodded, unimpressed.

‘It tells me that you are a wizard with no roots’, Henry smiled. ‘That is an immense waste of your powers, dear boy, and a threat. You are a threat right now, Stiles. A disaster waiting to happen. Every witch needs to belong somewhere, boy, you know this. It’s a law as old as time, in our world. Yes, you can be as emissary to a pack, but it appears that ship has sailed for you. You cannot be left alone, and that’s why you are going to join my coven.’

Stiles hummed. ‘That’s what our law says, yes, I cannot be left alone.’

‘With us, you’ll be powerful, Stiles.’, Henry continued. ‘You’ll reach your full potential. Between the 9 of us, you’ll learn things you could only dream of now. You’ll be safe and cared for.’

He looked like he wanted to continue, but Henry stopped when Stiles leaned into Derek’s touch, resting his elbow on his shoulder, casually.

‘You are right, of course’, Stiles nodded. ‘However, you’re working on the assumption that I’m not part of a pack and that I’m not a pack’s emissary.’

‘You agreed to that a minute ago.’, Jane rolled her eyes.

‘No, I agreed I wasn’t part of the McCall pack, and that I wasn’t his emissary.’

Henry frowned and his eyes kept moving towards Derek. Stiles smiled.

‘What are you saying, Stiles?’, Jane sighed.

Stiles looked at Derek and grinned. The wolf looked completely confused, his eyes wide and questioning.

‘McCall’s pack isn’t the only pack in Beacon Hills, you know. Plus, it’s new. The Hales, though… Mmmm, they’ve been around for centuries. I’m sure you all know that, it’s in our books.’ Stiles turned to Derek, then, speaking directly to him. ‘Witches have to learn a lot about wolf packs, you see, because of the possibility of becoming their emissaries. The Hales and their emissaries are used as an example for power and perfect balance. Because you pack is old, very old, and the witches bound to it have always been a bit more powerful than the others. Always have, always will. Because of the forest, and the Earth, and because of the power that the city holds at its core, telluric currents, the nemeton, and so on and so forth. ‘ Stiles frowns. ‘I only found one mention of Talia and Deaton, though, in one of the newer books. It was basically an essay about the power she held in her capacity to fully transform herself into a wolf and how Deaton helped with that. I’ll explain it to you later.’

Derek’s jaw was dropped. His ears were red and his eyes were a bit wetter than a minute ago. The hand he had on Stiles’ back was gripping his t-shirt tightly and Stiles could feel claws pricking at his skin. He smiled at the wolf and put the hand that wasn’t resting on his shoulder over his claws. He then turned to Henry.

‘Did you get it yet, or do I have to explain some more?’

The witch shook his head. ‘The Hale pack is dead. There isn’t an Alpha anymore. Derek is a Beta, so are his sister and his uncle. They’re all Omegas. You cannot have a pack without an Alpha.’

‘Yes you can’, Stiles argued. ‘The power of an Alpha is still there, it doesn’t just vanish into thin air, you know that. Come on, man, think about it. Derek may be a Beta, but you and I can both still feel the Alpha on him. He’s the only Hale left in the very powerful territory his family has taken care of for years, and that makes him an Alpha, red eyes or not.’

‘He is not an Alpha.’, Henry said slowly.

‘No, he’s not. Not yet, at least. He’s not ready to get his powers back just yet, but he’s well on his way. We’re working on it.’

‘We?’, Derek whispered, his hand tightening on Stiles’ back.

‘We’, Stiles answered, eyes never leaving Henry. ‘Derek, as the Alpha of the Hale Pack, and I, as its emissary. Your emissary.’, he turned his head towards the wolf.

The moment the words left his lips, Stiles could feel a change. Deep in his gut, things changed. Derek felt it too, judging by how he shivered. Now that Derek acknowledged it too, Stiles knew they’d make a more powerful team together. He took a step forward, letting go completely of Derek.

He looked at Henry and spoke in a low and confident voice, borderline cold and vicious. It was hard not to smile while saying the words he wanted to say out loud for a long time, but he tried his best.

‘I am the emissary of the Hale pack. I have centuries of power trusted upon me and the ground I was born on is more powerful that anything you have ever felt. You know this, I have no doubt. You’ve read the same books I have. But I have lived it. I played in the forest of the Hale property when I was a child, I planted trees in it for school projects, I ran through it and bled on it, over and over again. I was sacrificed for the nemeton, I was brought back to life by it. I am the one who buried the last members of this pack we have lost in battle. I have loved and I have been hurt on that land. I have learned and I have changed. You have no idea the things I have seen, Henry, the horrors and terrors that can only happen in Beacon Hills. And I… We got past them. I had no control over my magic but we still succeeded in defeating every evil fucking thing that was thrown at us. Together. Pack or not, we did it together. And hear my words, I promise the stars that I will be the one to give the power back to my Alpha.’

Henry said nothing.

‘I am bound. And you have no business with me.’

‘Stiles’, the witch said in a cold voice. ‘He didn’t even know you are his emissary until now. He’s not an Alpha, he can’t take care of you.’

‘Yes he can. Always had, always will. You, however, have no idea what to do to me’, Stiles laughed. ‘We’re in freaking France when Beacon Hills is my home? You knew I have power, you didn’t know exactly how powerful I am, but you knew something. And you still took me away? From my home, from my land? Need I remind you how big of a mistake you made? Like the hunters and the wolves, we have a code too. And boy, did you break it. You shattered it to pieces by bringing me here.’

‘I am trying’, Henry hissed, ‘to help you.’

‘I really don’t need your help.’

‘Yes you do!’, Henry yelled, raising a hand towards the air. Derek stepped forward, putting himself between Stiles and the witch. It didn’t matter, though. When the fireball Henry created in his hand almost reached Derek, it vanished into thin air.

Every witch took a step back when that happened, except Henry who took a step forward and started throwing fireballs as fast as he could. They all vanished 2 feet before hitting Derek.

Stiles put a hand on the back of the wolf’s neck and stood right beside him, shoulder to shoulder.

‘Are you doing this?’, Derek asked, awe in his voice, eyes never leaving Henry.

‘Yup. Pretty cool, huh?’

‘Jesus.’, Derek hissed.

‘Technically’, Stiles smiled. ‘We’re doing this.’

Derek didn’t respond to that, because Henry stopped attacking him. There was rage and betrayal in his eyes, but also shock.

‘Are you done?’, Stiles hissed. ‘You have given me every right to kill you, by laws old and new.’

Henry raised his chin. ‘Just because you did a protection shield doesn’t mean you have the power to take a life.’

‘You still don’t get it, do you? I am more powerful than you will ever be. I am more powerful than all of you, together.’

‘You’re full of yourself’, Henry hissed.

‘I have nothing to prove to you.’, Stiles shrugged, waving an arm and paralyzing Henry. He addressed the rest of the wizards, looking at Jane first.

‘Does he treat you well? Was this just a fluke because he desperately wants me, or is he always like this?’

Nobody said anything for a couple of seconds, and Jane was the one that answered, in a low but firm voice. ‘He’s not like this. He is good to us and we’re all more powerful with him. This… This is you. All you.’

Stiles looked to Derek, who nodded. ‘She’s not lying.’

‘Do you all agree with her?’ The rest of the witches nodded.

Stiles then turned to Derek. ‘Interdiction to our borders, pass some extra tickets around if needed, get home?’, he whispered.

Derek nodded. ‘I can’t believe I understood you just then.’

‘Eh, I’m rubbing off on you.’, Stiles shrugged. He turned to Henry and smiled, releasing him of the spell.

‘Here’s what we’re gonna do, old man. You’ll forget everything about me. You’ll forget I exist and if you or anyone in your coven even pass through Beacon Hills, I will not be as merciful as I am now.’

‘No.’, Henry hissed.

‘Is that your final answer?’, Stiles bit his lip.

‘You will join me, one way or another.’

Stiles sighed and took a step back, getting in line with Derek. He took his hand, and even though the wolf shivered, he tangled his fingers with Stiles’ and squeezed gently.

With his free hand, Stiles quickly created a ball of green light and threw it at Henry, before the older wizard could respond. Henry fell to the ground, unconscious.

Stiles looked to the other wizards, who were frozen in place, in various defensive positions.

‘He’s fine, he’s not hurt.’, Stiles assured, letting go of Derek’s hand. ‘It was a spell that removed me from his memories. That’s it.’

‘That’s it?’, Jane asked.

‘Yes’, Stiles nodded. ‘He’ll still remember Beacon Hills and the stories he’s read, but he won’t remember me. I may have added a _stay away from Beacon Hills_ clause too, but I think that’s ok with you, right?’

Jane nodded. ‘We’re sorry, Stiles. Derek. This wasn’t...’

‘We didn’t agree this was the best course of action’, another women explained. ‘We couldn’t convince him not to take you.’

‘I understand that and I believe you. You’re ok, in my books. No harm done. I won’t do the spell on you, but I will ask you to never speak of me or what happened today in front of him.’

‘You have our word.’, Jane nodded.

‘Good’, Stiles smiled. ‘That being said, anyone want a ride back to Beacon Hills?’

‘What?’, Jane frowned, after a beat.

‘This is a formal invitation. If any of you want to come back with us to Beacon Hills, I’d be happy to zapp you away from Henry. However, you’ll have to be gone within a week. Two witches are enough in that town.’, Stiles smiled.

Nobody said anything, so Stiles turned to Jane. ‘Are you sure? You’re not happy.’

‘I’m sure’, she nodded. ‘Thank you for your offer, but this place is good for me.’

‘All right. Well then, we’ll be off. If you’re ever in Beacon Hills, stop by and say hi, don’t be a stranger.’

‘Be peaceful, though.’, Derek said, flashing his eyes.

Stiles chuckled. ‘Home?’

Derek nodded. ‘How?’

Stiles wiggled his fingers in front of his face. ‘Magic, d’uh. But before that’, he turned to Jane, ‘Would you mind if we took a walk through the forest? It really is beautiful.’

Jane laughed and led them to the gate. ‘Go right ahead, boys. It’s a safe place, I assure you. We keep it that way. Just… stay away from the pine trees.’

‘Why?’, Derek asked.

‘They don’t like werewolves.’

‘Was that a joke?’, the wolf asked Stiles.

‘Nope. Pines are well known for not liking werewolves. The ones back home are just used to you by now.’, Stiles nodded.

Derek sighed and walked out of the garden, into the forest. Stiles followed, throwing one final look to Jane.

Δ

They walked for a while, in silence. It didn’t bother Stiles, he was enjoying the woods. It was different than in Beacon Hills, it felt different to Stiles. He didn’t feel magic all around him, like he did in the preserve, he didn’t feel the power the Earth there held. This felt peaceful, though. He could see Derek was tense, and he knew the wolf was thinking, but he didn’t stop walking. So Stiles followed, taking pictures of trees and flowers with his phone, and even a few of Derek.

A few minutes later, Derek stopped and sat down on a big rock. He didn’t say anything, so Stiles maneuvered some leaves and sat on the ground, in front of him.

They looked at each other and Stiles smiled. He couldn’t really stop smiling.

‘So, we survived.’, he said.

‘Yeah.’

‘Are you ok?’

‘No.’

‘Do you hate me?’

Derek blinked. ‘Of course not, dumbass. Quite the opposite.’, he mumbled.

Stiles laughed. ‘You want to talk?’

‘No. Not now.’

‘Wanna go home?’

‘No.’

‘Wanna walk some more?’

‘No.’

Stiles bit his lip. ‘You wanna go see the Eiffel tower?’

‘Yes.’

‘You wanna go see the Eiffel tower now?’

‘No.’

Stiles sighed and put a hand on Derek’s knee. ‘How about this? We go home now, talk to everyone, explain to them these… recent developments. And I promise you I’ll take you to Paris on your birthday?’

‘They’re not recent developments, though, are they?’, Derek asked, staring at Stiles’ hand.

‘They are for you.’

The wolf sighed and looked up. ‘We should get home, everybody’s probably worried.’

‘True.’

They sat up and Derek looked around, unsure. ‘You sure you can… zapp us home?’

‘It’s not like we have any other option.’, Stiles scoffed. ‘We’re shirtless and in swimming shorts, for Christ sake. In the middle of a forest, in France.’

‘We have phones’, Derek argued. ‘And I have my ID and credit card.’

‘It’s fine, Derek, really. I’ll just get hungry afterwards. I think everybody’s probably at my house, so we’ll go there.’ He extended his right hand. ‘Come on, big guy. You gotta touch The Stiles for this to work.’

Derek rolled his eyes and put his hand on the back of Stiles’ neck. ‘Beam me up, Scotty’, he muttered.

Stiles laughed.

Δ

They ended up in the hallway of the Stilinski house, and they saw that everyone was in the living room, obviously planning to patrol in search for them. Lydia was the only one who saw them teleport, and she screamed. Thankfully, it was a very human scream, not the banshee wail.

‘Did you just Apparate?’, she asked after a beat of complete silence.

‘Yup.’

The Sheriff made his way towards Stiles and hugged him. ‘Are you ok?’

‘We’re fine. They didn’t even touch us.’

‘Where were you?’, Scott asked.

‘France’, Derek deadpanned.

The Sheriff turned towards him and frowned. Then, he flicked both him and Stiles on the back of their heads. ‘Don’t ever do that again.’

Stiles laughed and made his way towards an empty place on the couch, next to Danny. ‘Someone feed me, please, Apparating makes me extremely hungry.’

His father went to the kitchen, so Stiles turned to Danny and grinned.

‘Did they explain?’

‘Yeah.’

‘Everything?’

‘Yes.’

‘Good. Great. How you doing?’

Danny sighed. ‘I’m coping.’

‘He’s doing pretty well, actually.’, Allison explained. ‘Far better than any of us, really.’

‘Cool, that’s cool. Do you hate us for not telling you?’

Danny blinked a couple of times. ‘No. I hate Jackson for not telling me. You guys are ok.’

Stiles laughed and took the plate of sandwiches his father brought him.

‘What happened?’, Scott asked, all business face.

Stiles smiled and looked towards Derek. ‘How about you start telling the story, while I eat? I’ll take over when you get to the difficult part?’

Derek nodded and started talking. When they were done, everybody was staring at Stiles.

It was Scott who spoke first, tilting his head to the side. ‘Should I feel betrayed right now?’

Stiles bit his lip. ‘I have no idea how you should feel right now.’

‘He’s happy’, Lydia said, after a beat, putting a hand on Scott’s shoulder.

‘Yeah’, he agreed. ‘You’re still my best friend’, he smiled, looking Stiles in the eye.

‘Always’, Stiles laughed.

Scott nodded and stood up. ‘Good. Now that that’s settled you should all go home and rest, we have school tomorrow. Danny, feel free to call me, or any of us, really, with any questions you still might have. But right now, Derek and I are going for a drive.’

‘We are?’, the older wolf frowned.

‘Yes, we are. Come on.’

Δ

Stiles tried waiting for Derek to come back, even after the Sheriff went to bed. But he fell asleep on the couch, TV forgotten on the History channel.

Derek woke him up 5 hours later, handing him a cup of warm coffee.

‘It’s time for school’, he said.

Stiles drank the coffee quickly, and took a fast shower. After he was dressed, he went to the kitchen, where Derek and his father were already having breakfast. There was a plate waiting for him too. While he ate, he kept looking at Derek. The wolf was constantly frowning, but he didn’t seem tense.

‘Derek? Thanks for breakfast. Maybe… maybe I should stay home today so we can talk.’

‘No, no,’, he shook his head, before the Sheriff go to say anything. ‘Go to school, talk to Scott and his pack’. Derek smiled and finally looked at Stiles. ‘I’ll wait for you after school. We should go to the woods.’

‘And talk?’, Stiles smiled.

‘Yeah. And talk.’

‘Alas, the wonders never seem to stop. Derek Hale wants to talk.’

Derek glared.

The Sheriff turned toward the wolf. ‘How do you put up with him? I had 17 years of practice.’

‘Rude’, Stiles muttered.

Derek shrugged. ‘He gets under my skin.’

Both Stiles and the Sheriff froze and stared at each other. The boy blushed.

‘He didn’t mean it like that, dad.’, he whispered.

‘Like what?’, Derek asked, confused.

‘That’s how mom used to tell dad she loved him.’, Stiles said, slowly.

Derek’s blinked fast a couple of times, and his mouth was slightly open. His ears were completely red and there was a bit of a blush on his cheeks. Things were tense for a few seconds, until the Sheriff muttered that he was going to work and fled the scene. Stiles soon followed, hastily shouting a goodbye to Derek, who was still frozen in place in the Stilinski kitchen.

Δ

School was boring, as school is. He didn’t get to talk to any of the pack, because they didn’t share any classes today, and, surprisingly enough, Stiles didn’t see any of them between classes, either. But when he entered the cafeteria, Lydia put a hand around his waist and guided him outside.

‘We’re having lunch on the field, today’, she said, mater of factly.

‘We are?’

‘Yes. Scott’s orders.’

Stiles sighed. ‘We should talk, I know that.’

‘But you don’t want to?’

‘Not really, no.’

‘Well too bad’, Lydia smiled. ‘You’re all grown up now, you have to take responsibility for your actions.’

Stiles sighed some more, but didn’t say anything. They made their way to the lacrosse field, where all of Scott’s pack, the twins and Danny included, were sitting on the bleachers and eating lunch. Stiles and Lydia made their way towards them, and when she sat next to Aiden, Stiles took a seat between Danny and Allison.

They were all silent for a few minutes, while they ate. Until Stiles couldn’t take it anymore.

‘Soooo’, he rolled his eyes. ‘Did you guys avoid me today?’

‘Yup’, Scott said, unashamed.

‘Why? We have to talk, I get that. But why would you-‘

‘That’s why’, Scott interrupted him, smiling. ‘We don’t have to talk, I mean, no, we do. But. _We_ have to talk, and you have to listen. If we didn’t avoid you today, you’d start talking.’

‘God forbid that’, Stiles scoffed.

‘Are you saying that’s not true?’, Allison challenged.

‘No, of course you’re right. But still.’, Stiles laughed.

‘So’, Scott ceremoniously put his lunch away. ‘We’ve all decided it’s best I do the talking, not because I’m the Alpha, but because I’m your best friend.’

‘Okay’, Stiles nodded and put his food away.

‘You just have to promise you’ll shut up and listen.’

Stiles narrowed his eyes. ‘I’ll try’.

‘Good enough.’, Scott sighed. ‘One question before I start. What did Derek tell you when he got back yesterday?’

‘Nothing. Uhm… I was asleep and this morning he didn’t say anything and he said we’d talk after school.’

‘Perfect.’, Lydia grinned.

‘Suddenly, I’m scared.’, Stiles frowned, after a bit.

‘Don’t be.’, Scott laughed. ‘Just shut up and listen.’

‘Okay. Go for it. I’ll shut up and behave.’, Stiles nodded and started playing with his hands.

Scott took a deep breath and smiled. ‘You do realize we’re all happy for you, right? You thought we didn’t notice, but we did.’

‘Notice what?’, Stiles frowned some more.

‘You’re better, man. Since Derek came back… We don’t know if it’s because your nightmares stopped, or if you started sleeping more or if it’s just because he’s there or maybe you’re not… thinking about it anymore. But you are a lot better. And you being his emissary, it explains it, doesn’t it?’, Scott smiled.

Stiles couldn’t really say anything, so he just smiled and stared at his shoes. Scott continued in a soft voice.

‘You know we’re not mad at you, right? This is good for you. And it’s good for Derek. And in the end, we all agree that’s what’s important. I just… you realized it before, didn’t you? You knew you were supposed to be his emissary before Derek came back?’

Stiles nodded.

‘Why didn’t you tell us? Or at least Deaton? Why didn’t you tell anyone?’

‘Because it’s a decision.’, Stiles said, softly. ‘It’s his decision, which, by the way, he hasn’t made yet.’

Isaac snorted. Scott flashed his eyes at him, so he stopped. Stiles watched the interaction with a smile on his face.

‘Are you seriously doubting if Derek’s going to choose you?’, Issac asked Stiles.

‘Not anymore, no’, he answered after a beat.

‘Good.’, Scott nodded. ‘That being said, we all know you’re not part of this pack anymore. Apparently, you never were, anyway.’

Stiles had a few seconds to feel hurt by that statement, even if he knew it was true.

‘However’, Scott continued in a serious tone, ‘it doesn’t really matter, cause you’re still our friend and that will not be changing any time soon. We know now that you’re the Hale pack’s emissary, and Derek is the Alpha, even though he decides not to make you give him his power back . He and I have decided to work together on everything that will come our way and the lines drawn are clear. They’re blurry, but their placement is clear. The way Derek and I see it, the two packs of Beacon Hills, however different they are, will always be together.’

Stiles stared at Scott, with a smile on his face and happiness in his heart. But, being Stiles, he started laughing.

‘All hail Scott’s chick-flicks moments!’, he yelled, causing a few students that were hanging out on the field turn around.

The whole pack laughed at that and Scott rolled his eyes. They stood up and hugged each other, while everyone else was still laughing.

‘Is that clear?’, Scott asked when he let go of Stiles.

‘Cristal’, he nodded.

‘Good. Now that that’s settled, Lydia and Allison want to talk to you about your plan of getting together with Derek.’

‘My-my what?, Stiles managed to wheeze out.

Scott laughed and rolled his eyes.

Δ

At the end of the school day, Stiles went to his Jeep, only to find Derek standing on the hood, two cups of coffee in his hand. He handed one to Stiles and he hugged it close to his chest, declaring his undying love for it, ignoring how the whole parking lot was staring at them.

Derek laughed. ‘You’re a child.’

‘Yup. Only for a few months more, though. Then I’ll be a teenage adult. Young adult? Legal. Then, I’ll be legal.’

‘You’re always going to be exasperating’, the wolf sighed.

‘Probably. Are we going to the woods?’

‘If that’s alright with you’, Derek got off the Jeep and drank a bit of his coffee.

‘Sure’, Stiles smiled. ‘I love the woods even more now. Got a particular place in mind?’

‘We should go to the house.’, Derek said, getting into the passenger seat.

‘Okay, big guy. If you’re sure.’

Derek was silent, so Stiles took that as a yes. The whole trip was silent, and Stiles was nervous. He didn’t doubt Derek would do the right thing and will accept him as his emissary, but he knew there will be more to it that just that. Derek was insecure and he still didn’t believe he was worth the power. Stiles promised himself he’ll do anything he can to prove him wrong.

They got to the house, and Derek made his way to the porch, sitting down on the steps. Stiles followed him, silently drinking his coffee. He took a seat next to the wolf and bumped their shoulders.

‘I’m not gonna say anything, okay?’, Stiles spoke in a soft voice, even though his heart was beating fast. ‘We’re doing this on your terms. You can ask me anything, I’ll answer. Tell me anything, I’ll listen. Okay?’

‘Deaton told me it’s a decision.’, Derek frowned. ‘That it’s my decision.’

‘It is’, Stiles nodded. ‘Me being your emissary, it’s your decision, only yours.’

‘Okay.’ Derek took a deep breath and looked down at his cup of coffee. ‘I want… I need you to tell me. How and when you figured it out. I don’t understand your perspective on this situations and I need to. If… if that’s ok with you.’

‘Sure.’, Stiles smiled. ‘It’s the least I can do, but keep in mind it will take a while.’ He took a deep breath and leaned back on the stairs. He didn’t look at Derek, he closed his eyes and tried to keep his voice even and his thoughts in order.

‘You remember the night at the rave? With Jackson and Allison’s mom? That was the first time I did magic. I didn’t think it was a big deal at the time, Deaton made it look like it was just the tiniest bit out of the ordinary, or that I was the one who could do it cause I was human.  But, anyway. That night I didn’t have enough mountain ash to physically finish the circle, but I believed and I did it anyway. And when you told me to break it, I didn’t even have to touch it.  Still, not a big deal, that’s how mountain ash works. Until, months later, Scott told me what happened in the bank vault. With you, Cora, Boyd, Morell and Allison. He told me how … Well, I kept asking and when I figured out that both Morell and Allison touched the mountain ash in order to close or open it… That’s when I first thought something was off. ‘

‘But, of course, I didn’t exactly have time to think about it, with everything that was happening. Then, I died. And then I started having nightmares. You know this part of the story, why I went to Deaton for training and how that went and so on. But before that… The nightmares would always be the same, you know. More or less. Slightly different variations of me killing everyone. Scott, Isaac, Lydia, Allison. Dad, Ms. McCall. You and Cora.’

Stiles opened his eyes for a few seconds, only to see that Derek hasn’t moved. He sighed and went on.

‘The night before I went to see Deaton, I… it kinda hit me, you know? How often I’d dream of you. Of killing you. And how bad it hurt. I mean… I shouldn’t have dreamt of you so often, and it shouldn’t have hurt me that much, we hated each other, right? Wrong. So wrong’, Stiles puffed. ‘I mean… we acted like we hated each other, most of time. You threw me into walls, I can’t remember how many times I told Scott to let you die. But, once I started thinking about it, I realized we were both idiots, _acting_ like we hate each other. Truth is, we understood each other. Always had, even if we didn’t say it out loud. And, you know, beyond the whole compulsively saving each other’s lives business, you were there when I needed you, to save my life, or to believe me over your girlfriend. And I was there for you, more often than not, even if you didn’t ask for it. Honestly, Derek, I don’t really know how I got to this conclusion, that I should be your emissary. But… after I did… I… I felt better.’

‘Even though I wasn’t here.’

Stiles looked at Derek, then. The wolf was still tense, but he was also leaning back on the stair behind him, looking into the woods.

‘Yeah, even though you weren’t here. But you were there when I first did magic. So… I guess that counts for something.’, Stiles sighed. ‘Truth be told, I thought you never coming back.’

‘Why?’

Stiles laughed. ‘I thought… I thought you needed to heal, to fix yourself. And you knew that you wouldn’t be able to do that in Beacon Hills. I thought you thought you couldn’t be a good Alpha here.’

‘But I wasn’t an Alpha anymore.’

‘Yeah, Scott told me that. But… You still needed to fix yourself.’

‘Do you think I did?’, Derek asks after a beat.

‘I know you did. I see it every day. You’re better and you know that, you’ve said it yourself the first night you came back.’

Derek then turned around and looked at Stiles. He was frowning.  ‘I’m asking if you think I should be an Alpha again.’

Stiles narrowed his eyes. ‘That’s not my decision either.’

‘But you would be the one to do it, the ritual.’

‘Your emissary should be the one to do it.’, Stiles nodded.

Derek glared. ‘Just tell me what you think.’, he sighed and looked back to the woods.

‘What I think doesn’t really matter at this point. I’m can’t be objective anymore’, Stiles smiled. ‘I feel it on you. The power of an Alpha. And it gives me power, you know. When you’re around. And while I know Beacon Hills would be better with you having red eyes, I can’t really have… a trustworthy opinion.’

‘Was that a yes?’, Derek smiled.

‘Yes, Derek. That was a yes. You’re still the Alpha, you’re supposed to be stronger than this.’

The wolf fell silent again, but Stiles didn’t push. He finished his coffee and started counting trees, to keep himself busy.

‘You know I trust you.’, Derek said in a low voice, startling Stiles. ‘If I accept this...’, he sighed. ‘Do you even want it?’

‘Want what?’

Derek looked into Stiles’ eyes and spoke slowly and without any inflection. ‘Do you want. To be. My emissary?’

Stiles sighed. ‘Do you really doubt that?’

Derek shook his head. ‘I need you to say it. I want to believe you, I do believe you but … you know what usually happens when I’m certain of something, of someone.’

Stiles smiled. ‘I thought you stopped with the self-deprecating shit.’

But Derek didn’t laugh, he kept looking at Stiles, vulnerable and afraid. Stiles put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. ‘I want you to be an Alpha again. And I want to be your emissary. We’d make one hell of a team.’

Derek nodded. ‘I need to talk to Cora.’

Stiles smiled. ‘You should buy a laptop. I don’t mind you skyping on mine, but it would be easier.’

The wolf got up and offered a hand to Stiles. ‘I’ll buy a laptop the moment your Dad lets me get my own place.’

Stiles laughed. ‘I talked to him about that, you know. He said he’d lay off.’

Derek rolled his eyes, but it was fond. Stiles smiled and drove them home. 

Δ

When they got home, Stiles let Derek into his room, to skype Cora. So of course he fell asleep on the couch.

He woke up to the sound of giggling. Someone was giggling, and someone was laughing. Stiles opened his eyes and saw Derek hovering over him, laptop open and pointed at him. Cora was the one laughing.

‘Hey, Cora’, he mumbled, rubbing at his eyes and sitting up. Derek pushed his feet off the couch, and sat next to him, putting the laptop on the coffee table and angling it so that Cora could see them both. They had to stay close together so that she could see them, but Stiles really didn’t mind the contact.

‘Morning, sleepyhead’, Cora smiled.

‘ What… What’s going on?’

‘You know, Stiles’, Cora said as Derek leaned back and put a hand around his shoulder. ‘When I asked you to take care of my brother, I didn’t exactly mean for you to become a powerful druid and to hoax him into becoming an Alpha again.’

‘That’s not how it happened.’, Stiles frowned.

‘I told her what happened’, Derek assured him. ‘She’s just teasing.’

‘Stiles’, she said softly. ‘You really want to do this?’

‘Yes’, he said immediately.

‘But why? Explain it to me, please, because I don’t really understand.’, she frowned.

Stiles smiled and leaned into Derek a bit more. ‘You asked me once, why do I care. Remember that?’

Cora nodded.

‘I lied. Truth is, everything I ever did and everything I will ever do… It’s always for the people I care about. I think it’s pretty clear, by now, for everyone, that I do care about Derek. But it’s a selfish thing too, I guess.’

‘How?’, Derek frowned, looking only at his sister.

‘You guys don’t realize how much power there is in this town. Yeah, you feel it more than humans do, but for me…  It’s weird. Just being here is like getting three shots of epinephrine straight to the heart.’, Stiles laughed. ‘And the forest, your forest, god, it’s… breathtaking. I have no words to explain how… It’s a special connection, and laugh all you want, it’s a dumb saying, it’s weird, but it’s true. It makes me… ‘, he bit his lip. ‘Hale emissaries have always been feared.’

‘Why?’, Cora asked.

‘A lot of reasons. Starting with the power of the Hale Alphas, ending with that land, the forest. It’s… it fuels me up, it gives me power. Just like Derek gives me power, but with the forest, it’s more… pure.’

‘Derek gives you power?’, Cora frowned.

‘In a way, yeah.’

‘But… you’re not his emissary yet.’

‘It doesn’t matter. It’s weird, I know-‘

‘Stop saying it’s weird, and explain it.’, Derek interrupted.

Stiles nodded. ‘Allison told Scott once that there’s no such thing as fate. She was wrong. The Hales will always have powerful emissaries. For reasons I don’t understand, I’m supposed to be it for this generation. Just the possibility of that gives me a bit more power, more than what I was born with, more that what I’ve studied, more than the forest. And it’s not just that, Derek and I… We’re something.’

‘You’re something?’, Cora raised an eyebrow.

Stiles nodded. ‘Yeah. We’ve always been something. We both did things we shouldn’t have to one another. Every time he saved my life, he didn’t have to. Same with me. Every time he believed me, or relied on me for something, logic dictated he shouldn’t. But he did it anyway. And I did the same. Yeah, of course we screwed up, of course we made mistakes.  Horrible, awful, fucked up mistakes.’, he shrugged and looked at the laptop. ‘But in the end, we always did the right thing. Not what others thought was right, but what was right for us. And we’re still here. More sane than not, and this... We have an opportunity to make it better.’

‘And you think you can make it better?’, Cora narrowed her eyes.

‘I know we can make it better. But, that’s just talking about us. About me and about Derek. Even if you guys don’t want me as your emissary, things will still be good. As long as Scott and Derek keep whatever their deal is right now, Beacon Hills will be okay.’

‘But you won’t’, Cora shook her head. ‘Derek said you’re sleeping more since he came back. Wouldn’t you being his emissary fix you?’

Stiles smiled. ‘I’m not broken, Cora’, he said softly. ‘I mean, no, yeah, I’m pretty broken, but I was long before you two left Beacon Hills the first time around. Everything that happened after that… that didn’t break me.’

‘You died. And it changed you.’

‘Yup. I’m okay now, though. I learned how to deal with the aftermath.’

‘But if you were Derek’s emissary, you’d be even better, right?’

‘Yeah, but that doesn’t matter.’

‘How does that not matter?’, Derek asked, and he sounded a bit mad.

‘Because it’s about me, it’s my perspective. You guys should focus on your perspective right now. I don’t care that I’m sleeping just a few hours or that I have nightmares, not anymore. I care about you being here and being alright.’

The Hales fell silent at that, and when Stiles looked up, they were both smiling. He looked at Derek and narrowed his eyes. ‘Was this a test? This was a test. You were testing me.’

‘She was testing you.’, Derek smiled.

‘You passed.’, Cora nodded.

‘And what does that mean?’, Stiles frowned and looked at Derek.

‘It means that … I don’t think I should be an Alpha now’, the wolf said, slowly. ‘But I know you should be my emissary.’

‘Are you sure?’, Stiles asked after a beat. ‘I don’t… no take backs, man. I couldn’t handle that. I could survive rejection now, but not a take back later on.’

‘No take backs’, Derek nodded. ‘Let’s put us in one of your books.’, he whispered after a beat.

Stiles lunged forward then, hugging Derek tightly. The wolf responded, and their touch was electric. Literally, Stiles could see electricity being charged off their skin, where they touched. It didn’t hurt them, and Stiles felt power, he felt the power Derek gave him, the power of an Alpha, the power of his Alpha.

When they pulled apart, both hearts beating loud and fast, they kept their hands touching, in front of them. They both stared as blue flakes of electricity exploded.

‘What is happening?’, Cora’s voice brought Stiles back to reality.

He turned around to look at her, but didn’t let go of Derek’s hands.

‘Magic’, he laughed.

‘Is this going to happen every time I touch you?’, Derek whispered, awe filling his voice.

‘No’, Stiles looked back at him and tried to take his hands away. Derek didn’t let him. ‘No, it’s… I just… I’m excited. Sorry.’, he grinned.

‘That’s you, playing?’, Cora asked, incredulously.

‘Yup!’, Stiles grinned at her.

‘Derek, please remind me never to piss him off.’, Cora smiled.

Derek laughed. Stiles started laughing too, and soon after, Cora followed. Their hands were still giving off electricity, and they started moving their hands, changing the pattern.

Of course, that’s when the Sheriff came into the room, looking confused. ‘What’s… happening?’

Stiles laughed even harder.

Δ

The next week, Derek moved out of the Stilinski house. He got a big, beautiful house, with 5 bedrooms, a huge living room and a medium sized garden. It didn’t matter that much, because he was close to the woods. He was also close to the Sheriff’s house, a 10 minute walk, but nobody mentioned that.

Over the next weeks, Derek got a lot of help from Scott’s pack, in decorating the house. The girls argued with him over colors and textures, while the boys argued with him over furniture size. Derek just enjoyed the time they spent together. In the end, he’d listen to what everyone said, and then he’d just look at Stiles, who’d always be there when someone else was over, and Stiles would say his opinion and most of the time, Derek would agree.

Lydia tricked Derek into throwing a house warming party, but he didn’t really mind. It was only Scott’s pack, and Derek enjoyed their company. Most of them were watching the big tv in the living room, but Derek was outside, making hamburgers on the grill the Sheriff got him, while Scott and Stiles were keeping him company, lounging on some chairs.

‘So, can I ask you something?’, Scott smiled, ignoring whatever Stiles was rambling about.

Derek nodded.

‘Why did you get a house this big? I mean… It’s just you. And Cora when she visits. Why would you need 5 bedrooms?’

The older wolf shrugged. ‘Stiles has a room. Even if he doesn’t move into it, it’s still going to be his and he’s going to use it. And when Cora’s going to visit, her boyfriend will probably come too. And, how should I put this?’, he smiled. ‘Stiles, Allison, Lydia and Danny are half way through being drunk, and it’s barely 10 pm. Do you really think any of you will want to go home tonight?’

Scott grinned and nodded. ‘So that’s why Stiles’ opinion was the only one you listened to, because he’s going to live with you eventually?’

Derek froze for a second, so Stiles explained.

‘No, he only listened to my opinion because we actually like the same things, apparently, at least when it comes to furniture. And your ideas were dumb, all of you wanted to make Derek’s house look like something you’d enjoy, not like something he’ll enjoy. And nobody said anything about us living together. Ever.’, Stiles rolled his eyes.

Scott frowned. ‘But you’re his pack.’

Stiles waved his arms around frantically. ‘Firstly, no, I am not his pack. I am his emissary, it’s different. Secondly, pack doesn’t mean you have to all live together. Your pack doesn’t live with you. Cora’s in freaking Argentina. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I get why you would assume Derek would want to live with his pack, but that’s not the case anymore, not for the Hale pack.’

Scott nodded in understanding. ‘You’re right, but you’re also drunk.’

‘Yes, I’m also drunk’, Stiles shrugged and drank some of his whisky.

‘But you are pack.’, Derek frowned.

‘No I’m not.’

‘Yes, you are.’

‘No, I’m your emissary.’

‘But you feel like pack.’

‘I feel like…’, Stiles waved his arms, spilling a bit of his whisky on the lawn. ‘What does that mean?’

Derek frowned and turned off the grill, turning around fully to look at Stiles. Scott slowly made his way back towards the house, grabbing the hamburgers, but they didn’t acknowledge him in any way.

‘You feel like pack’, the wolf shrugged. ‘Like Isaac used to feel after I bit him. Like Cora feels and how Laura felt. How my family felt.’

‘I don’t…’, Stiles shook his head. ‘I don’t understand.’

‘I’m supposed to protect you. And you’re supposed to protect me. And you will, and I will, and I trust you and you trust me. You’re not family’, Derek shrugged, ‘not by blood.’

Stiles shook his head. ‘This isn’t supposed to happen.’

‘Why?’, Derek frowned.

‘It’s… it’s a different connection. An emissary isn’t pack. It’s… abnormal.’

The wolf’s eyes grew wider, but he squatted so they were at the same level, and smiled. ‘It’s not like we ever did things the right way.’

Stiles laughed. ‘Are we ever going to do things the right way?’

 ‘Probably not.’, Derek shook his head and took Stiles’ free hand, folding their fingers together.

Stiles smiled and lifted their hands, rubbing Derek’s knuckles along his cheek. He let a few sparks of electricity come out, enjoying startling the wolf.

‘I am drunk’, he laughed, letting his head fall against Derek’s shoulder. The wolf took the glass out of Stiles’ hand and put it on the ground.

Stiles took his now free hand and put in on the base of Derek’s neck, playing with the hair there. The wolf froze, but he made no attempt to pull away.

‘You know what I think?’, Stiles whispered, closing his eyes.

Derek shook his head.

‘I think’, Stiles smiled, ‘that I’m not pack. I can’t be, it’s impossible. For you to _feel_ me like that. I’m your emissary. Just that, wolf wise.’

‘But-‘, Derek tried to speak, but Stiles opened his eyes and looked at him. He continued whispering, smiling and looking into the wolf’s eyes.

‘Human wise, I think you like me. Not just like a person or a bro or an emissary to your pack. I think you like me as a guy.’

Derek was blinking fast, so Stiles squeezed his hand.

‘I think you like me and I think you want to kiss me and I think you want to date me’, Stiles laughed, while Derek was still frozen in place.

‘But I know you’re stubborn and I know you’re afraid and you still think you’re not worth it. And I know I’m drunk right now and you’re thinking I’m not thinking straight. And I’m not, I’m really not thinking straight, I’m totally thinking gay.’, Stiles giggled. He took a deep breath and lifted the hand Derek was holding, kissing his knuckles. ‘So I’m not going to say anything more, big guy. I’m you emissary, we don’t have the luxury of it getting awkward, not anymore. If you wanna do this, if you wanna give it a try, we’ll do it on your terms. ‘

Derek still wasn’t saying anything, he was still frozen in place and blinking fast. Stiles laughed a bit and put his head on the wolf’s shoulder again.

‘I care about you, you know that.’, Stiles whispered. ‘And now you know it’s a bit more than it’s supposed to. It’s always been a bit more from me. Now, I’m just… I’m just begging you, Derek, that whatever your decide, don’t make it weird. Please don’t make things weird between us, because … The Hale pack doesn’t have that luxury. I’ll take anything you give me, but I can’t take awkward.’

With that, Stiles gave Derek a quick kiss on the cheek, and he let go of his hand. ‘I’m gonna go to bed now. I promise I’ll pretend this never happened in the morning.’

Stiles didn’t see it, but Derek didn’t move for 20 minutes.

Δ

Stiles slept for 12 hours. He woke up disoriented and thirsty, but for the first time in months, he felt rested. He looked around the room and realized he was in Derek’s bedroom, even though he didn’t remember getting there.

He was in the middle of the bed, covered with the fluffy red comforter he brought for Derek. He smiled, turning his head to the side where Derek was sleeping, lower on the bed than Stiles, feet hanging out a bit at the end. The wolf was shirtless and one side of the comforter was loosely covering his lower back. One of his hands was draped over Stiles’ middle, and Derek was snoring softly, head turned towards Stiles. 

When Stiles put one of his hands over Derek’s arm, and started drawing swirly shapes with his fingers, Derek shivered a bit. He woke up, because he stopped snoring, and he smiled, but he didn’t open his eyes.

He tightened his grip on Stiles’ middle, moving closer to him. Stiles lifted up his free hand, and Derek got under it, putting his head on Stiles’ chest, while he hugged the wolf. They stood in silence for a few minutes, Stiles holding Derek’s arm with one hand, the other playing with the wolf’s hair, Derek breaths tickling his skin.

‘I’m cuddling Derek Hale’, Stiles whispered, smiling.

The wolf snorted. It was rather unattractive, but because his lips were right over Stiles’ collarbone, he found it adorable.

‘I’m cuddling my emissary’, Derek mumbled. ‘You’re petting me’, he added after a beat, frowning.

‘Don’t say it like that’, Stiles smiled, not stopping his movements. ‘You like it.’

‘Why do I like it?’, Derek mumbled.

‘Cause you like me?’

‘Why do I like you?’

‘Cause I’m me?’

Derek opened his eyes and looked at Stiles, eyes flashing blue for half a second. He smiled and closed his eyes again, rearranging himself over the boy, his nose right in the crook of Stiles’ neck, tangling their feet together and tightly griping Stiles’ t-shirt.

‘You know’, he whispered softly, ‘I didn’t figure it out. I had no idea I… liked you.’

‘Really?’, Stiles frowned.

‘Yeah. But yesterday, after you told me, I thought about it. Really thought about it.’

‘And?’

‘And I was stupid.’, Derek pouted.

Stiles laughed. ‘It’s understandable. If it makes you feel any better, it was the girls who pointed it out for me.’

‘The girls?’

‘Lydia and Allison. But I… I knew I liked you before they said anything. I just didn’t want to acknowledge it.’

‘Why?’

‘I never thought you’d ever look at me like that.’

Derek sighed. ‘How long?’, he asked softly, eyes still closed.

‘I don’t actually know.’, Stiles smiled. ‘I think I’m supposed to say since you came back and moved in, but that would be a lie. Before that, but I can’t pinpoint an exact moment.’

‘Are we always going to be this dumb?’, Derek pouted.

Stiles chuckled. ‘I don’t know, are you always going to be this cuddly?’

Derek opened his eyes and lifted his head so that he could look at Stiles. ‘Yes’, he answered, seriously.

‘Then yeah, I guess we’re always gonna be this dumb, cause let me tell you, your cuddling seems to kill half of my neurons and turn the rest of them to mush.’

Derek frowned, and spoke in a serious, slightly grumpy tone. ‘I’m going to kiss it better.’

And he did. It was a short kiss, just a couple of seconds, lips moving lazily, both of them smiling through it. When Derek pulled away, he closed his eyes and leaned down on Stiles’ chest again.

‘You’re a sap’, Stiles chuckled.

‘Not usually. But it’s morning, and I’m lazy and you’re comfortable and I have a hangover.’

Stiles just hugged him tighter. ‘Is everybody still here?’

‘No, they left a couple of hours ago, after sleeping a couple of hours and eating half of my fridge for breakfast.’

‘Did I miss anything interesting last night?’

‘No? I mean, Lydia and Scott threatened to castrate me if I hurt you, but I guess they wouldn’t have had that conversation if you were there.’

‘What?’, Stiles frowned and closed his eyes too.

‘Scott said, and I am quoting, that if I hurt his best bro, he will follow me to the end of the earth and break every single bone in my body, twice.’

‘What?’

‘And Lydia told me that emissaries are supposed to bring balance in the pack, and that I should balance my balls out of my ass and do something that involves you and lube or you and cheesy love declarations, whatever floats my boat.’

‘Oh my god.’

‘Isaac stepped in then, and said that considering my track record, I’d probably hurt myself if I ever hurt you, so he thinks we’re gonna be ok.’

‘What even…’

‘Danny laughed all the way through it and, at the end, he said that we’re gonna be cute.’

‘Oh my god.’

‘Allison agreed. She also told me never to buy you clothes for your birthdays.’

‘Jesus.’

‘And your dad called a couple of hours ago, I assume after Scott got home, talked to his mother, and after she talked to him.’

‘Oh god.’

‘He told me to keep you safe, just like he knows you’ll keep me safe, and to, generally, be safe.’

‘Oh god.’

‘And he invited me to dinner. Anytime.’

‘I can’t …’

‘And you were asleep. For all of that.’, Derek tried to sound mad, but he was still sleepy.

‘I am so sorry’, Stiles whispered, meaning it.

‘I won’t have you sleeping through all the uncomfortable and important moments of this relationship.’

Stiles’ eyes flew open at that, and he saw Derek smiling down at him.

‘So that’s… your decision?’, Stiles asked in a soft, vulnerable voice.

Derek nodded. ‘I wouldn’t have it any other way. I can’t have it any other way. But… can we? Is there … I don’t know, a small clause in the contract that states that emissaries and Alphas can’t date?’

‘There isn’t’, Stiles shook his head. ‘I checked. Multiple times. In several different sources. There is absolutely no reason whatsoever in the world of lycanthropy that could prevent us from dating. ’

‘Are you sure?’, Derek smiles.

‘Yes’, Stiles grins.

‘Positive?’

‘Absolutely, 100% positive.’

When they kiss this time, it’s not chaste and sweet. It’s hard and bruising, hot and loud and so, so very good. They’re both smiling when they pull apart. They keep smiling as they share a shower that of course ends up being longer and steamier than it should. They keep smiling when they meet the Sheriff for lunch, or when they meet Scott’s pack in the preserve, for training.

They keep smiling when Stiles gives Derek his Alpha powers back.

They stop smiling when they find a wendigo killing people in the woods. But they hold hands while they chase it, and they hold each other tight after they kill it.


End file.
